


Of all the Planets in all the Galaxy

by ChangeTheCircumstances



Series: Moving Forwards [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Adventure, F/F, M/M, angst thrown in for good measure, for the record i'm a horrible human being
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-07
Updated: 2016-01-28
Packaged: 2018-05-12 11:47:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 24,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5665003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChangeTheCircumstances/pseuds/ChangeTheCircumstances
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After constantly retaliating against the remaining First Order forces, the Resistance finally has the gap it needs. Since the Starkiller battle, their current location has been compromised. However, now with time on their hands, General Organa has sent out a team to find a new home on the Outer Rim of the galaxy.</p><p>Aboard the Millennium Falcon are Poe Dameron, Rey, Finn, Jessika Pava, BB-8, and R2-D2. What will they find? Will they succeed in their mission? And, most importantly, will they be able to stand each other after weeks in close quarters?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The third and last part of this series. Like the others, this one can be read on its own but it's recommended to read the past two stories to get all the references.
> 
> So, thanks for reading and please enjoy!

“I’m the leader,” repeated Poe for the umpteenth time. He was sitting in the copilot’s chair of the Millennium Falcon.

It was the first day of the group’s mission to find a new habitable base for the Resistance and they had just gotten out of hyper drive to the first area on their map. They were currently scanning the area for the presence of any stars and Poe was once again arguing with Rey.

“I should be the one piloting the Falcon,” Poe said again. “I’m head of this mission.”

“And once again, I don’t care,” Rey replied. “I promised Chewie that I would pilot this since he wasn’t authorized to come on this mission. You should just be lucky that I’m letting you copilot and that I didn’t choose my girlfriend over you.”

“Oh, cause that would be professional,” Poe responded with a roll of his eyes.

“And you’re all about professionalism aren’t you,” countered Rey. “You’ve never done anything out of line like…oh…I don’t know…throwing protocol out the window just so you could hug your boyfriend?”

“I hadn’t seen him in weeks!” defended Poe. “I was touch starved.”

“I could have had a deadly disease Poe,” Finn sighed as he looked to the ceiling. “You could have died because you were ‘touch starved’. And touch starved my ass. Who was it that grew up as a stormtrooper with strict protocols?”

“You did,” mumbled Poe.

“Sorry, didn’t hear you there.”

“I said you did!”

Jessika let out a huge groan as her head slammed against the consul she was working at. “Who said this was going to be fun?”

“That would be Finn,” Rey said.

“Good, cause I need to strangle someone.”

“Woah woah!” cried out Finn as he blocked Jess’ hands. “What happened to mild mannered Blue Three?”

“She disappeared after those two idiots started arguing about who should be head pilot,” Jessika replied as she jabbed a thumb in Rey’s and Poe’s direction.

“Hey!” they both cried out in unison.

Finn shrugged when they both looked to him for support. “What? She’s right. You two haven’t shut up about it. I know it’s only been about half an hour but already I’m thinking of joining up with the First Order again.”

“Not funny,” Poe frowned.

“You’re right, that wasn’t. Sorry. But I am seriously thinking of doing the only smart thing that anyone’s thought of on this ship and heading away from you two,” said Finn.

“The droids did have the right idea,” agreed Jess.

“I can’t believe BB-8 didn’t defend me,” mourned Poe.

“I can’t believe that droid traveled a galaxy just for you,” Rey countered.

“Hey—”

“No!” shouted Finn. “No no and no! Arguing is stopping now! This morning we were all great friends and now we’re jumping at each other’s throats for nothing! Rey, you’re the pilot. Poe, you’re the copilot. Jess is the medic and I’m the gunner. There, done! No more arguing!”

“But—”

“No,” Finn interrupted Poe.

“Just—”

Finn stopped Poe again. “I said no.”

“Sorry, flyboy,” Rey sighed. “Jedi trumps boyfriend.”

“What did you—”

“Alright, Poe and I are going to go in the back and double check that all this stupidity isn’t being caused by lack of oxygen. Jess, you take over the copilot’s chair,” groaned Finn. He grabbed Poe by the hand and dragged him away before the man could protest.

Once out of the pilot room, Finn spun him around and set a hard glare across his face.

“Finn…”

The ex-stormtrooper kept the hard look.

“I’m just…” Poe tried, “I’m not use to doing a mission like this. Okay? I’m use to being up in space alone or on some massive ship where you can run off if it’s to much. I’m sorry.”

Finn finally broke the glare and smiled. “I know you are. I just really need you and Rey to stop arguing because I think this mission is going to end with two less members if you keep doing that.”

“When did you get so sassy?”

“When I had to find some outlet other than murdering my crewmates,” chuckled Finn. He grabbed Poe’s belt and pulled him into a hard kiss. “You’re the best pilot of the Resistance, we know, but technically this ship is Rey’s. Doesn’t matter if you’re the leader. She calls the shots on this ship.”

Poe sighed.

“Hey, none of that. Now, tell me you understand.”

“Yes, sir,” Poe replied with a mock salute.

Finn rolled his eyes but kissed Poe again. “You better. You don’t want to know what I’ll do to you if it starts up again.”

“Oh, I shudder at the thought.”

“That was not supposed to be suggestive,” huffed Finn.

“You sure? It sounded pretty suggestive to me,” Poe grinned.

Beep! Whirl…click, beep!

“What do you mean you’re going to throw us out an airlock?” asked Poe in mock horror as BB rolled by with R2 right behind him. “And R2 will help you? How rude!”

“You know,” sighed Finn, “I really miss the times when I couldn’t understand droid.”

“Oh come on, you know you love conversing with BB-8,” Poe replied.

“Well of course but for a droid it certainly can spew out some embarrassing thoughts.”

“What can I say, it’s learned everything from me.”

“I can tell,” sighed Finn.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” laughed Poe.

“I think you know what it means,” Finn muttered as Poe took a step forward. Still, he couldn’t help the smile appearing on his face. When Poe started rocking him back and forth and pulling him to and throw, Finn fully broke out in laughter. “There’s no music silly.”

“No, but I figured a little dance would round everything out. And I can always sing,” smiled Poe. He opened his mouth to do so when—

“Am I going to need to sanitize the main hall!” Rey yelled from the pilot’s chair, successfully ruining the moment.

“No! Just may need a puke bucket for how cute these two are!” Jessika called back from where she stood in the doorway. “I swear Poe. You are such a romantic.”

Poe laughed, still swinging Finn side to side. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading as always. Hope you enjoy!

That first day they found three stars with no habitable planets. It was odd but the realization of how far away from anything they had ever known was finally setting in. The Inner Rim to the Galaxy was mapped out. They knew where all the Systems were, which planets were toxic once you breathed on it and which ones flourished with life.

But the Outer Rim? There was still so much unknown, particularly with just how far out they were now. They were at the very edge of the galaxy. It was like stepping off a cliff with no bottom in sight. You had no idea what you’d hit on the way down, how long it would take, or if there even was a bottom.

For Finn, Poe, and Jess, they had all dealt with long amounts of travel in empty space. They knew what it was like to feel utterly alone with nothing but the unknown as a friend. At least at one point or another, just not to this degree. But for Rey it was different.

Despite her extended time on the Falcon, after only a day it was finally setting in just how long she would be stuck in the metal contraption.

“What if we can’t find anything?” she asked. “What if we fail? There’s just so much…nothing.”

Poe gave her a kind smile and put his hand over her own. “Hey, nothing is as important to the universe as something. Like what Luke has been teaching you, how the light and dark side of the Force have to be balanced. You can’t have one without the other and you can’t destroy one without destroying the other. There is a lot of nothingness in the universe but there is a lot of life and we’ll find it somewhere.”

“But how can you be so sure?” Rey asked. Her wide eyed expression reminded Poe that she was the youngest crew member there. She was really still a kid. “You’ve never been out here. No one has. That’s the point.”

“True,” nodded Poe, “but if there’s anything I’ve learned it’s that life finds a way. Some ways are pretty odd, I’ll admit that, but we will find something. We found three Systems yesterday. That was just one day. We have a lot ahead of us and it’s a bit early to feel discouraged already.”

Rey let out a huge sigh as her body relaxed.

“There you go. And hey, if it gets to tight in here, just continue to breath normally and close your eyes. Imagine Jakku, or the First Jedi Temple or D’Qar or anything you want. Imagine open fields and lakes and deserts and forests.”

“That would help?” she asked.

“It can, yeah. I know plenty of people that don’t do well in small spots and though this isn’t the smallest I’ve ever seen, being stuck in here for weeks or months, it can be a bit understandable getting antsy and freaking a bit,” Poe replied. “Just remember that if you ever need a break, myself or one of the others can take over.”

“This is just your ploy to try and get in the Captain’s chair.”

Poe grinned, happy to see Rey making a joke. “You see right through me. Now, it looks like it’s about time for lunch. How about we do that after our next system?”

“Sounds good to me.”

This would be the second system they had seen that day. The hyperdrive had to charge meaning they couldn’t easily zip from place to place. Even if they could, it took time taking in the light readings and studying them to see if the star and the system was a viable place for life. So even if they could just constantly zip around in hyperspace, they still needed the time to actually read the areas around them as potential spots or not. They also had to map out each System they discovered while also making a log of just about everything they did.

As leader of the mission, the logs were technically Poe’s job but he had managed to push it onto Finn after some pleading looks.

Finn didn’t mind though. Since he was the fourth person in rotation to pilot and his main job was the gunner, it really left him with little to do and he wasn’t as skilled at reading the instruments as Jessika. Making out the logs and occasionally adding sections to the map allowed him a job at the very least.

As Rey and Poe got the ship ready to jump to the next system, Finn had finished with the last log and was now battling Jessika with the holochess table.

“Hmm,” she stared at the arrangement of pieces before finally moving. Finn immediately did his counterattack. Jess shook her head in wonder and said, “You’re to good at this. Losing is going to get pretty boring after another sixty days of this.”

“Hey, I could teach you how I think the situation through,” Finn suggested.

“If you did that, then we’d be stuck at a constant stalemate,” laughed Jess. She shook her head. “No, besides I’d rather try and beat you fair and square.”

“You sure you can do that?” asked Finn cheekily.

“Well now I know what my mission is going to be for the next few months,” Jess chuckled.

R2 came by and sent out a question towards Finn.

“Oh, I could beat Chewbacca if I wanted to but I’m not that crazy,” Finn said.

Jessika gave him an odd look.

“Never beat a wookie,” replied Finn. “I haven’t done it but just ask R2 here and I’m sure he’ll tell you some horror stories.”

R2 was about to sarcastically reply when Poe showed up.

“Next system already coming our way?” asked Jess.

“Yep, and after that lunch. Places.”

“Aye-aye captain,” Finn grinned. He turned off the holochess table and hurried to the bottom gunner position. What with being on the very edge of the Outer Rim, it was doubtful they’d encounter any major opposing forces but it was always a good idea to be safe.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading! I'm figuring out exactly how long this will be but each chapter will roughly be the same size and I do plan on updating every day. Thanks again and enjoy.

It was nearing the designated night hours. Without a constant star, it would have been extremely easy to lose time without the timers and clocks.

Finn was wondering through the ship before going to bed. That mainly consisted of walking the same corridors five or six times but it helped to tire him out and actually get to sleep. He’d passed Poe several times but had let him be, the man fully concentrated in his work, but after the fourth passing, Finn finally paused.

He leaned up against the wall and looked down at Poe who was sitting on the floor. “Whatcha drawing?”

“Just the ship,” Poe replied. He raised the drawing up so that Finn could see it better. “It’s pretty intricate, will take me awhile to finish. Hopefully we’ll come across something more interesting though.”

“You getting tired of the ship too?” asked Finn as he slid down next to Poe.

“A bit,” the other admitted, “which isn’t a good sign cause it’s only been a week. And we have resources for up to four months and that’s not including if we find resources along the way.”

“We’ll get somewhere we can land and stretch our legs,” Finn said certainly. “Maybe we’ll even have time to sit down and watch some alien sunrise. Unknown creatures moving about, three stars—”

“Three stars?” asked Poe with a grin.

“And a purple sunrise.”

Poe laughed. “Now that would be a sight, huh?”

“Sure would,” Finn replied. He relaxed against Poe and smiled up at him. “I have a good feeling about this next system.”

“Hmm, do you?”

“Yep. May not be good for a base but I bet you we’ll be able to land somewhere,” Finn said.

“How much do you want to bet?”

“A kiss,” replied Finn as he quickly kissed Poe on the lips. “You can get that back if I’m wrong.”

“And if you’re right?” Poe asked.

“Then I’ll steal another kiss.”

“Sounds like a win-win situation to me,” grinned Poe. He nudged Finn a bit playfully. “You know, I think Jessika and Rey are finally asleep.”

“You would wake them up in ten seconds flat. No.”

“I would wake them up? Excuse me, who’s the one who can’t keep their mouth shut?” asked Poe.

Finn rolled his eyes. “That would be you.”

“Oh yeah.”

Finn chuckled and then kissed Poe again. After pulling away, he grabbed Poe by the hand and pulled him up. “Come on, time for bed. The sooner we go to sleep, then the sooner we touchdown on a planet and the sooner I get to steal another kiss.”

“Hey, I’m not complaining. Just steal one right now,” laughed Poe.

“You wish. Come on.”

The two headed to bed and quickly drifted off to sleep.

In the morning, R2 went around waking the four crewmates. The droid had designated itself as everyone’s official alarm clock, something which wasn’t always appreciated. Even BB-8 often appeared disgruntled and sleepy when roused as the R2 unit went around wailing at everyone. The group had quickly realized that if they waited to long then R2-D2 wasn’t shy of shocking them out of bed either. It simply didn’t understand the pleasantries of laying in a warm bed.

Granted, they weren’t waking up to a lazy morning but a mission. Still, a few minutes to just keep their face nestled in a pillow or a lover’s arm would have been appreciated.

Rey and Finn often did much better than Poe and Jess when it came to waking up. Both were already dressed, ready, and preparing the Falcon to jump to the next System when the other two finally came in.

“Hey,” said Poe, “that’s my seat.”

Instead of waiting for Finn to get up or even respond, Poe plopped into his lap.

Finn rolled his eyes. “How strange. I can’t seem to see the controls anymore.”

“No need,” Poe yawned. He automatically finished the set up as Finn was stuck in the seat. “Alright. Everyone ready?”

“Really?” asked Rey.

“Yep, come on. Let’s go.”

Rey shook her head but did just that and they quickly jumped to the next System. They ended up on the edge of it and had a fairly good view of all the entire System.

“Ok, we have…seven planets here and only…two are within the golden belt,” Rey continued. “Alright, time to actually wake up and do our job.”

“You heard her. Wake up Poe,” Finn grinned as he finally nudged Poe up.

Finn headed off to his job as Poe fell back into the seat.

They headed to the farther planet first which right away was to cold for anything. It was even worse than Hoth and that had been a pretty extreme place to set up a base. The weather conditions had been to harsh for the Falcon and they hadn’t been able to land. The second planet they were able to land on though. It was the first one they were able to actually touch down on but as they began to test the area around them, they were met with the opposite problem.

The first planet was to far away and the second was to close to its star. They couldn’t stay much longer without the shields breaking and being roasted alive inside their ship.

“Well, it was worth a try,” sighed Rey. She glanced over to Poe who was getting a quick kiss from Finn. “What was that for?”

“Just a little bet we had,” Finn replied. “Okay, so clearly neither of these planets are going to cut it but we finally landed on our first planet at least. That’s something.”

“I suppose it is,” Rey admitted. “Alright, let’s get out of here before we roast. We can have breakfast and then plan out the next System.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as of now the plan is for 25 chapters. May change a bit but on average that's about what I'm aiming for. Once again, thanks again and hope you enjoy!

Because water was a limited resource for their mission, it meant there weren’t many chances to actually clean up. If someone were to suddenly appear in the Falcon they would have probably gagged from the collective stench. As it stood, everyone had grown use to the smell and when they finally did go through the refresher, it was honestly a bit odd having the stench of humans go away.

It was two weeks since they had left D’Qar. Finn was the last one to clean up and joined the others in the main room after he was done.

“It almost feels weird being this clean again,” Finn sighed as he sat down.

“Yes, but it’s nice too,” agreed Rey. “Though I will say I almost got use to not bathing again. You never really got that chance back on Jakku.”

“I imagine so,” Jess replied. “The worst is when you’re stuck in a small ship, like an X-wing, for long hours though. The air gets recycled and though it will keep you alive, it’s some of the nastiest crap you can get into your lungs.”

“Yuck,” muttered Poe as he shuddered at a memory. “Well, with that done, let’s get to the next area. Last one for today.”

“It could be a System but this is actually one of the predetermined points from the First Jedi Temple that we’re supposed to investigate,” Rey said. “We could find nothing or…anything really.”

Besides finding a new planet for the Resistance, their secondary mission was to double check marked points that had been found at the First Jedi Temple. This would be their first point.

As they double checked readings and prepared the Falcon to jump to the next location, Poe paused for a second as he saw something scroll across the screen.

BB-8 beeped persistently at Poe, knocking against the copilot chair.

“Yeah, buddy, I see it.”

Rey leaned over. “What does that mean?” she asked, not understanding the readings.

“It means we’re going to want to be a little ways away from our destination,” Poe replied.

“Why?” asked Rey with a frown.

“If we get there in time, you’ll see,” said Poe. He reprogrammed their destination and then called for Jess and Finn to head to the cockpit. “You guys are going to want to see this!”

The two rushed towards the front of the ship, both curious and confused as to what was about to happen. However, as Poe finalized the schematics, Jess looked over at the data. Her eyes widened. “Oh wow.”

“Yep, oh wow,” Poe replied. He actually looked jittery as he pushed the last few buttons and pulled the final levers. The shakiness was clearly not from being afraid though but excitement instead.

Finn and Rey looked on in curiosity as they finally went into hyperspace. When they got out of hyperspace, it appeared that they were in an empty section of space still.

“What—”

“Shh,” Poe said quickly. He was practically jumping up and down now and yet had somehow managed to give BB-8 a vantage point by setting the large droid onto his lap. “That direction. Just watch. It’ll happen in t-minus…seven…six…five…four…three…two...one—”

There was no sound, they were in space after all, but everyone there imagined a huge explosion going off in their head. The colors, the light, it all spilled out in front of them. Finn tried to speak but Poe hushed him again. Everyone remained silent as the four crewmembers and two droids stared at the gorgeous cloud in front of them. Blues, purples, reds, greens. They all mixed together in a wondrous form and then—

It was gone.

Less than two minutes and it had faded away.

“What was that?” Rey asked in wonder.

Jess couldn’t help the amazed smile that slowly formed across her face. “The death of a star.”

“You mean that was…?” Finn trailed off.

Poe nodded. “We just witnessed a supernova.”

For a moment, everyone continued to stare at the dark expanse of space again before finally talking.

“Whatever was there is gone, isn’t it?” Rey finally asked.

Poe nodded. “Even if a black hole didn’t form, anything around that star was destroyed in that. No point in possibly endangering ourselves and getting closer.”

“I wish we could have known what was there but…that was so…beautiful. Have either of you ever seen something like that?”

Poe and Jess shook their heads. Poe said, “The luck that was involved in getting to see that…you know, I don’t even care if we can’t find anything. That alone made all this worthwhile.”

Finn nodded in agreement. “That was possibly the most amazing think I’ve ever seen. But if you hadn’t caught that…oh my god we would have been in the middle of that.”

A chill ran through Rey. “Oh my-you’re right. We would have been a part of that. Not just a specter.”

“And that,” said Poe, “is why we always double check everything.”

“Says the guy who is literally the most ‘spur of the moment’ person of us all,” Finn chuckled. “Alright, who agrees that we’re done for today?”

“Agreed,” the rest said in unison and BB-8 and R2 beeped with them.

Poe carefully put BB back on the ground and then jumped up himself and quickly rushed off.

“What are you in such a hurry for?” asked Finn as he followed him. “We’re not going anywhere.”

“Yep which is just perfect. Means I’ll probably remember it better.”

“Remember-oh. You’re going to draw it,” Finn replied.

“Uh huh. You have to admit it’s a bit more inspirational than drawing this ship over and over again,” said Poe as he rushed to get his supplies. “Alright, now no more talking. I don’t want to forget a single detail.”

Finn smiled as he kept his mouth shut and watched Poe work. As they went into the night hours, Finn didn’t bother dragging Poe to bed knowing full well the man wouldn’t be deterred until finished. Even R2 didn’t get fussy with him and allowed him to work through the night.


	5. Chapter 5

The next planet they landed on was a definite possibility.

“Not as comfortable as D’Qar but it’s got water and land. Plants, animals, just have to make sure none of them are to toxic to us and it wouldn’t be to bad of a base,” said Poe. He wiped the sweat from his brow. “Let’s get some samples and then head to the poles, see if they would be any better to have a base.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Jessika replied.

When they had climbed back into the Falcon, R2 and BB-8 took the samples to analyze them and the two humans made their way to the cockpit.

“You sure it would be alright for a base?” chuckled Finn as he looked the two over. “You both look like you went for a swim.”

“Just way more humid than I’m use to,” Poe said with a wave of his hand, “but other than that it seems like a viable place. Like I said, while the droids analyze the samples, let’s head towards the poles, see if it’s any better there.”

“Alright, hold on then,” Rey said as she got the ship off the ground. She glanced back at Poe and shook her head as they went through the planet’s atmosphere. “Go get in the refresher Poe.”

“But we just—”

“I don’t care. Those cloths need to be cleaned and so do you. You’re practically dripping onto the floor.”

“It’s not that bad,” muttered Poe.

“It’s that bad,” Jessika replied, supporting Rey in the decision. Though affected by the humidity, she wasn’t as bad off as Poe was. “Besides, once we get the results back on the state of the water here, we can probably use that to restock on our supply.”

“Fine, but only because we can replenish it,” Poe said with a roll of his eyes. “See you guys in a bit.”

As Poe went off to clean up, Rey landed the ship on a different land mass closer to the poles. Finn took over the pilot’s seat and Rey went out with Jess.

“Much better,” said Jess, “but still surprisingly humid. It’s like a tropical jungle wherever we go.”

“But not as bad as the last one. At least we have a chance at this one and it’s not as extreme as Hoth,” Rey replied.

“True but we also have to take into account how this humidity might affect the ships and equipment long term,” Jess responded. “But all things considered, it just feels amazing finally being able to walk around and properly stretch our legs.”

Rey smiled at that and allowed her body to relax some. “Oh I know. If only we knew exactly what’s out there. I’d love to just run and run.”

“Did you like that about Jakku?” asked Jessika curiously. They barely talked about their past, either of them, but they didn’t exactly shy away from such topics either. The subject simply didn’t come up very often. “I know you stayed in that area because of the possibility that your family might come back, and I know that it was probably dangerous going to far out into the desert, but at the same time you could just…move anywhere. I mean…you were confined but in a different way.”

“Yeah, I suppose that’s a way to look at it,” Rey said. She turned quiet, contemplating how to respond. “Jakku was…it was constant movement. You were always doing something just to try and keep yourself alive from day to day. I do like waking up and being able the lounge about, to simply chat with people without an ulterior motive, but I do miss it in an odd way. I guess I still haven’t gotten use to how the Resistance runs.”

“Well, you still sleep on the floor pretty often so that certainly makes sense,” Jess said with a kind smile and a chuckle. “You think you’ll ever get use to a comfortable bed? I hate it when you leave in the middle of the night to sleep on the floor.”

“And I thought I was being sneaky.”

“Well usually it’s only when you get back in bed in the morning that I actually wake up and notice,” replied Jess, “but don’t look so down. I don’t mind. I’d sleep on the floor with you if it didn’t kill my back.”

Rey smiled. “Well it is the thought that counts. Come on. Let’s get some more samples and take advantage of this freedom before we jump back on the Falcon.”

When they finished and were back on the Falcon, Jess went off with the droids to finish up with the data gained from their samples as Rey headed off to do a maintenance check on the ship. A lot could be done from the cockpit but it was nice to actually walk around the ship and move over the top to see everything was okay with her own eyes.

After reviewing the outside she went back to the pilot’s room. As she double checked that every flashing light was supposed to flash, Poe finally showed up again and sat into his own seat.

Like on autopilot, he picked up right after Rey, double checking the ship. She didn’t think anything of it yet when she glanced at him, she had to do a double take.

“ _Poe_.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I feel like I’ve done something wrong.”

“ _Poe_.”

“Are you going to keep saying my name or are you going to tell me what I’ve done?” asked Poe.

“You’re hair,” she sighed.

“So I didn’t comb it after leaving the refresher. I’m _sorry_.”

“We both know that mess is not from the lack of a comb,” Rey said with a pointed look. “Stop defiling the ship.”

“I can assure you,” Poe said with a straight face, “that I wasn’t defiling the ship.”

“Poe!”


	6. Chapter 6

Despite the wonderful stop on the habitable planet, the group had quickly grown use to the vast expanse of space again. They all had their own little hobbies to busy themselves with but doing the same thing over and over again got boring after a while.

Nevertheless, the conversations, often joking but sometimes serious, kept the group from getting bored. Rey brought up a particularly deep question one late night. They had finished with their run for the day and were now winding down.

As they each finished off their meal, Rey asked, “What were your parents like? I don’t…if this is opening up old wounds then I’m sorry. I’m just…curious.”

Poe looked over to Jess. He raised an eyebrow, like an invitation to go first, and she shrugged and put down her food.

Not noticing the unspoken conversation, Rey quickly said, “Obviously you don’t have to say anything if—”

“No, no,” Jess said with a wave of her hand. “It’s fine. Honest. I actually never knew my parents. The First Order raided our village for a new section of stormtroopers. My parents distracted them enough that my aunt could get me out of there but my parents died in the process.”

“I’m sorry,” Rey and Finn said at the same time.

Jess shook her head. “It is sad but like I said, I never got to know them. My aunt managed to get us to the New Republic when I was eight. We found refuge there for a short time but she couldn’t take it.”

“What?” asked Rey.

“The fact that they weren’t taking the First Order seriously. Or at least it didn’t appear like that to us until we found the Resistance. By that time I was fifteen and I had figured out what I wanted to do.”

“What does your aunt think about you being an X-wing pilot?” Finn questioned.

“She _did_ hate it,” said Jess. She smiled. “Don’t look so down. She was lucky. Died from a natural death not to long ago. But while she was alive she constantly told me to do something, anything else. Besides her constant nagging she was a wonderful person. Strong willed, a fighter. She wasn’t much one for small talk and relaxing. Probably due to what she had experienced but she did her job and kept me safe until I could do that job for myself.”

She looked to Poe, silently passing the time for words to him. Finn and Rey followed her gaze and waited to see what Poe would say.

“Both my parents are dead now. I think you both knew that though,” Poe said. “But while they were alive? They were really something. They both were there during the Battle on Endor, my mother in the sky and my father in the trenches. As a kid, I honestly didn’t know much about what they had done, just that they had been soldiers at one point or another.”

Poe paused as a smile pulled at his lips and a distant look came to his face. “My mother didn’t talk a lot about her time with the Rebels but when I got older I got the stories from others, saw the records, the medals, it was amazing for me.”

“You were closer to your mother?” questioned Finn.

“I suppose in some ways, yeah. I went to both my parents with different problems, talked to them about different subjects, it just depended on the situation. My mom was the one that led to my love of flying though. She use to put me in her lap and she’d take me into the atmosphere and sometimes even into space. Those times were possibly the best…moments…of my…childhood…”

Finn frowned. “Poe?”

“Sorry,” Poe said as he shook himself. “Just thought of something.”

At the quizzical glances he said, “It was something my father once told me. I wanted to know if he’d ever been afraid when fighting. Sometimes, yes, but there was something that was at the center of his biggest fear. He was afraid that it was all for nothing. The Battle of Endor, the entire war against the Galactic Empire, all of it.”

What had once been a look of gentle kindness and happiness over the memories changed to one of…defeat. It took everyone a moment to realize this as it was a look that had never graced Poe’s face. “I suppose he was right.”

“No he wasn’t,” Rey immediately said. “You reminded me that we can’t have the light without the dark. This is the same situation. Yeah, the darkness is trying to stomp out the light but we’re keeping it back. We’re bringing balance. We can’t possibly get rid of all the darkness in the universe and the dark will always find some shape in one way or another. In this instance it just happens to be the First Order. But we’ll beat them back down to size. We’ll get that moment of peace before the next form of darkness rises.”

“Then it’s an endless cycle,” Poe said. He put the statement out like a counterattack, the unsaid question being, what was the point then.

However, Finn jumped in before Rey could respond. “It’s like life then. We know the ultimate outcome but we get to decide how we’re going to get there.”

“It also means that even in the worst times there’s hope,” added Jess. “If you’re looking at it like that, then just as the dark will come back, in the worst of times you know there will always be a return of the light. There’s always hope for a better dawn.”

Poe let out a small chuckle. “Talk about a change in the conversation. First were just going down memory lane and now this has turned into a discussion on philosophy. Who knew, huh?”

“I know. I thought all you flyboys had was empty air up there,” Rey replied and the comment caused everyone to erupt into laughter.

“Don’t get snarky with me or I’ll turn this mission around,” Poe said with a grin.

“You do that and I’ll just have to form a mutiny. Who’s with me?” asked Rey.

 The discussion changed again, now dissolving into a heated yet good natured debate as to how to succeed in a mutiny against Poe.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A chapter just for R2! Thanks for reading and please enjoy!

R2 sometimes went back into its databanks to go through old memories. It couldn’t help but compare the current moment aboard the Falcon with past times. Times with Luke Skywalker and Han Solo and Leia Organa and Chewbacca. Sometimes they would even come across a recording of Obi-Wan Kenobi which of course made it connect to older memories. It did not often pull up its files on Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala. It did not know why. The human emotion would have been pain, R2 knew, but it couldn’t quite feel that.

But that was where R2 was made confused by the BB unit. R2 understood what kind of droid it was, its function, its programming. There were certain humanistic characteristics R2-D2 would never be able to express or understand simply because that code wasn’t in its databanks.

The droid had gone through BB-8’s coding before. R2 sometimes worried that a certain reaction or random stream of noise was due to a malfunction. That alone was weird for R2 because R2 wasn’t programmed to actually worry.

It wasn’t sure that what it thought of as worry actually was that. Was a droid’s worry the same as a human’s? If not, what were the differences? How could R2 know for sure?

R2-D2 had…missed Luke. It still thought of Luke as its current master. Before that, it was Leia’s and Bail Organa’s and even farther back, Obi-Wan had been his master. R2…missed them in their own right. The droid missed not knowing they were nearby even though it knew its current mission was important to the betterment of the Resistance. It did not matter what it truly thought. Its purpose was to help its master, something which had once led to helping the Jedi to the Republic to the Rebels and now to the Resistance. R2’s logical thought process sometimes tried to decide if it would have helped the Sith, the Galactic Empire, the First Order if only its master had joined them instead.

But BB-8 did not seem to think along these lines of thought though because it had a sense of moral. Not programming to choose who it should or shouldn’t trust but actual ethics and choice. Nor did its process resemble that of R2’s or other droids. That was why R2 was…worried about its fellow droid.

Though BB referred to its owner as master, it usually referred to its human as Poe or Friend-Poe. It thought of the young Jedi as Friend-Rey and the ex-stormtrooper as Friend-Finn. It saw Blue Three as Friend-Jess and instead of thinking of Chewbacca as simply a wookie and/or member of the Resistance, BB-8 referred to the wookie as Scary-Fur and Violent-Mammal.

That was an indication of fear. But droids weren’t programmed for fear. At least they shouldn’t have been. What was the purpose of a droid with fear? All it would do would hinder their function.

Yet so would emotions such as worry and R2 had been so…worried and so…sad…that it had been unable to function when Luke left.

But once again, BB-8 did not spend time thinking about these things. It appeared almost unique compared to R2 and the other droids. It daydreamed and seemed to understand the constructs of friendship and its thought patterns were more fluid yet jumpy, like an actual organism’s rather than something preprogrammed.

Evolution was a word that came to mind. Had BB-8 evolved above its programming? Was it possible for other droids to do it? Was that why R2 even had a sense of worry inside itself when Luke was not within sight?

It had been a long while since R2 could consider such matters, often being in the middle of a mission that didn’t allow for the amount of lazy time that a mission like this did.

Nevertheless, at the current moment, R2 had to assume that BB-8 was truly feeling stressed and afraid. He wasn’t simulating such emotions but actually feeling them. It meant the little droid was actually autonomous and had a sense of self.

R2 pushed that bit of coding to the back of his databanks for another day though. Instead, it mimicked what it had seen humans do in times of need and gave a kind nudge to BB-8. It seemed to be what the little droid needed and immediately it was working over drive with the rest of the human crew to get its master-no friend-back.

Eventually, the crew succeeded and Mission Leader-Poe managed to jump onto the walking platform as Jedi-Rey flew the craft off of the unstable planet. Once R2 finished helping to stabilize the craft back in space, the droid went back with Jedi-Rey and the rest of the crew where Mission Leader-Poe lay, breathing heavily and eyes wide from the near death experience. They had misjudged the stability of the planet and they had nearly paid for it with someone’s life. R2 computed that it was unlikely they would do that again.

Back with the crew as they fussed over Mission Leader-Poe with hugs and kisses and repeated “Are you alright?”’s, R2-D2 focused on BB-8. The little droid again and again rubbed itself against Mission Leader-Poe like a small animal and the human responded back with comforting touches that was easing the droid’s mechanical mind as much as the hand squeezes and hugs for the humans.

It was fascinating to watch but something that was even more amazing was what the scene made R2 feel. It reminded itself of when Luke was saved from Cloud City and when they managed to get Han back from the carbon-freeze chamber. It was relief. It was joy.

And for how long had the R2 unit simply referred to Luke as Luke and not as Master-Luke? R2-D2 decided it would have to analyze this new data.

But later. For now, its circuits were seemingly working better and more happily than it was used to.


	8. Chapter 8

Finn had refused to completely let go since the near death experience. Poe didn’t really mind but it did make certain basic tasks difficult. That and Poe kept getting tripped up by BB-8 as the droid had also made it its mission to keep Poe within sight at all times. It also didn’t help that R2-D2, who usually seemed the most concentrated on the mission, appeared to fully support the babying of Poe.

“Guys, it was a bad call, that’s it. Okay? But I’m back and—”

“A bad call? A bad call is having one more drink than you can take,” Finn replied. “That was a near death experience. We could have left you!”

“But Rey managed to get the ship running in time, I managed to not fall down a hole, and we both managed to make it so I could grab onto the ship before falling under mountains of rubble. I’m fine now,” countered Poe.

“But we could have.”

Poe rolled his eyes. “You’re really making this bigger than you should.”

“No, we are worrying just the right amount,” replied Jess as she popped into view and landed on Poe’s back.

He let out a small groan and shook his head. “Is Rey going to show up too and just knock me to the floor so I can’t move? Because that seems to be the goal here.”

Rey’s head appeared from around a corner where she nodded. “Yep.”

“Guys I am fine!” cried out Poe as he threw his head back. “If you want to hear me say it was terrifying the thought of my grave being on a planet at the edge of the galaxy that would constantly be churning me up with everything else that lands on its unpredictably unstable surface then I’ll say it. It was terrifying. But I’m honestly surprised nothing more serious hasn’t happened on this mission yet. The whole thing is about traversing the unknown.”

“We know,” Jess sighed from where she was hugging Poe’s backside. “But it’s still going to take time for us. We did almost lose you.”

“Yeah, well I almost lost all of you too,” Poe said with a kind smile. “For about thirty seconds and then I would have been dead of course—”

Finn complained, “ _Poe_ …”

“Alright, I’m sorry. But I’m okay guys. Not going to disappear on you,” Poe chuckled.

BB-8 gave an unsure whimper.

“Hey, I promise buddy,” Poe smiled down at the droid. “I always come back.”

BB-8 went on a little tirade about the one time that he technically didn’t and that the little droid had to go all the way to the Resistance with the help of strangers because Poe didn’t come back.

“Okay, maybe that did happen but we have two pretty amazing friends because of it right?”

BB-8 gave a rather agreeable sound.

“See? I’m okay and you can all finally let go of me so I can properly do my job,” Poe replied. “I’m not going to float away.”

“Are you sure?” asked Finn innocently. “You’re head is full of helium.”

“You little—”

“No-Poe stop it! Stop-tickling is not professional!” screeched Finn as he unsuccessfully batted away the quick fingers. “Stop!”

“Unprofessional my ass,” grinned Poe. “You just insulted your commanding officer so I get to do what I want.”

“Is that how it works?” asked Jess with a roll of her eyes. She shot Rey a suggestive look. “I’ll have to keep that in mind then.”

“Will you-don’t-I can’t-oh god I think I’m dying!” Finn cried out, still mercilessly being tickled.

“You’re not dying,” replied Rey with a roll of her eyes as Finn erupted into giggles and Poe joined him.

BB-8 repeatedly bumped Poe though until he finally stopped and then beeped persistently at him.

“I’m sorry BB. I don’t think I can tickle a robot-wahh!”

“Thanks BB,” Finn grinned as he quickly took the opportunity to launch himself at Poe and pin him on the floor. BB-8 beeped happily, that having been its plan all along. Finn of course quickly got back to getting his revenge.

“Will you stop! I’m sorry okay!” Poe yelled out with laughter. “Stop!”

“Who’s the commanding officer now, huh?”

Jess rolled her eyes at the two. During the conversation and continuous tickle fight, Rey had made her way into the hall and now stood next to Jess. The X-wing pilot took that moment to at least try something. Her fingers reached out.

Rey laughed, “Sorry, not ticklish, Jess.”

“Damn,” said the other girl. “And that would have been so much fun.”

“For you I’m sure. You ticklish?” asked Rey with a mischievous glance.

“Nope—”

“Will one of you help me!” Poe cried.

“No way,” said the two girls at the same time.

“Thanks,” Finn laughed from his advantage.

“No need, he deserves it,” Jess chuckled.

As she walked off and Rey followed, Finn finally stopped. Poe let out gasping breaths as BB-8 made what was the closest thing to laughter that a droid could make. It rubbed up against Poe in a ‘please forgive me’ manner which of course Poe would.

“Oh I hate you,” gasped Poe as he let his head fall against the floor of the Falcon. “I’m exhausted.”

“You’re exhausted, huh?” Finn asked. “Who’s the evil one who started this?”

“Uh, you did with that very well timed sarcastic comment.”

“Why thank you.”

Poe laughed. “And you,” he added as he turned his head to BB, “you little trickster. I should have known you were just giving Finn his chance.”

The little droid replied with happy noises as it affectionately rubbed against Poe.

Poe allowed himself a few more minutes to catch his breath before he finally looked Finn in the eyes again and asked, “Can you please get off me now?”

“You know, in this position you usually say keep going.”

Poe blushed and pushed at Finn. “Oh shut up. Come on, we do have a job to do.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always! Please enjoy :)

The next system was a Binary Star System but that wasn’t the only interesting thing about it. There was a set of binary planets.

Both the planets were locked in perfect balance, going round and round each other. What made the entire system so interesting though was the fact that it wasn’t the stars that were the center of it. Instead, the moving planets were the relative center and both suns danced around them. After calculating the rotation of the planets and their orbits, they found how long a day was on each along with the nights. The suns were also yellow stars and from what they could read off them, they would continue burning and dancing in their current pattern for plenty of years to come.

“I think they’re even the right distance from their suns to harbor life,” Jess said from her control panel.  “We need to get closer to examine the atmosphere but they’re both rocky planets.”

“Still, let’s not get our hopes to high,” said Poe from the cockpit. “I’ve never seen a system like this. There’s no record of another like it in any of the logs either. There could be a number of unknown reasons why we shouldn’t set foot here.”

“We’ll just have to try,” Rey replied. She locked onto the gravitational pull of the suns and then inwards to the center of the System.

“Everything good?” asked Finn.

BB-8 and are R2-D2 let out a series of noises.

“Good,” murmured Poe.

He and Rey guided the ship towards a nice orbit around the planets now. Unlike a regular elliptical movement, they quickly found out that near the point between the two planets they moved towards the other one in a figure eight type movement. For hours they analyzed the data that came back. Despite the uncertainty, it was looking good from both the planets.

“If they’re viable that would mean two planets for the Resistance,” Rey said.

Poe nodded. “But first we have to make contact. Since both are about equally promising, we’ll do a separate mission for each planet. There’s water on both so that’s good as well. Atmosphere and gravity is nice and stable. Alright, let’s suit up.”

The group got ready and quickly traveled below one of the planet’s atmospheres. They searched for a good spot to land and found a nice area in what was a grassy plane. With the Falcon handling the conditions well, Finn and Jess headed out.

“From what we’re reading it’s a comfortable temperature. How does it feel out there?” asked Rey through the comms.

“Pretty good,” Finn said. “We’ll take some samples and then we’ll be ready.”

As the mission went on, everyone seemed to be on edge, waiting for something awful to happen. They waited for some ravenous beast or for the planet to shake. They waited to find out that the nights were to cold for things to survive, that the water was actually toxic. There was so much that they expected to happen, anything just to make the planet less perfect. Yet they kept going and didn’t find anything.

They stayed the night and once again waited for something to pop up. Anything that screamed ‘don’t make a settlement here!’. But nothing like that appeared.

Spending a good part of the next day, they continued to traverse the landscape before moving to the next planet. Its conditions were very similar though it was more forested throughout and the overall climate was cooler. But once again, nothing told them to turn back. There was nothing saying that they were about to end up dead. Two planets, perfect places for the Resistance. It seemed to good to be true yet nothing came to disprove that.

When they finally had to say goodbye to the two rocky surfaces, they held a meeting around the holochess table.

“Alright,” said Poe. “What do you guys think? We’ve come across some possible places but nothing as perfect as those two. Should we keep going or head back to D’Qar?”

“There could be others,” murmured Jess, “but we’ve gone through so many already.”

“It’s been nearly three months,” added Finn. “That’s three/fourths of the expected time for the mission. It’s not like we’re calling it quits to early.”

“Perhaps we stay here a day longer then. Examine these two planets some more just to double check,” Rey suggested.

“They’ll have groups sent out to the planets that we marked as habitable,” said Jess.

“Yes,” agreed Poe,” but it’s not a bad idea. Just to make sure we really haven’t found something that’s to good. We’ll do that. Triple check the data, travel around each world again, reanalyze the samples, all that. Then we’ll decided whether to go on or not.”

“Sounds like a good idea but there are the spots that were marked in the First Jedi Temple. We haven’t traveled to all of those and that is our secondary mission,” Finn reminded everyone.

“How about we cut the remaining time in half then? We could visit all the remaining marks in reference to the Temple in a shorter amount of time but this way we can still check the surrounding systems just in case,” Poe said. “How about that?”

“I have no problem with it,” Rey said.

The droids beeped in agreement.

“Alright, it’s settled then. Let’s head back down to the planets and then it’s on to the next Jedi related spot,” replied Poe.


	10. Chapter 10

With how they had cut the mission, they officially had a week left on their travels. It was finally coming to a close. Nevertheless, that idea was away from everyone’s minds as they headed towards their next destination. They had just arrived in an area and already they were confused by it. Distantly, they had read certain heat signatures that had them expecting a yellow star. The sight they were welcomed with was not a yellow star.

“Maybe the readings were off,” Jess murmured as she went back over everything.

Finn was looking at the same thing though and shook his head. “No, that’s definitely right. But it looks like a planet. Almost big enough to be a Gas Giant.”

“Yet it’s radiating like a star,” muttered Poe. He glanced over at Rey.” Are you alright?”

“The…it’s the Force. It’s coming from the creature—”

“You’re not telling me that’s an organism,” Poe asked incredulously. “Look at it. Its planet sized!”

“It’s alive,” Rey said, her voice unwavering. “And no, I’m not talking about how a ‘planet’ is alive. This thing is actually alive!”

“But our scanners are showing it’s as hot as the sun!” cried out Finn. “It couldn’t possibly be a—uh. Well that’s—hmm, um that’s not—the readings are changing.”

“What?” asked Poe.

“The uh, readings. The heat, it’s dropping,” Finn said.

“That’s not possible,” replied Jess, “yet it’s happening right in front of my eyes.”

Suddenly the shipped was rocked and everyone cried out as they stabilized themselves.

“What the hell was that?” asked Poe incredulously.

“I think it was a heartbeat,” Rey replied.

“A heart?! Okay, Force, yes, totally believable, but a giant heart inside a planet creature? No, I’m sorry, I just can’t,” Poe said.

“Well you better believe it because that’s what that was. I know it,” Rey shot back. “Brace yourselves, another wave is about to hit.”

Hands went flying as seconds later another wave rocked the ship.

“Any damage?” asked Poe as he checked the systems from the wave had subsided.

“None that I can fine,” Rey said.

“We’re good here,” Finn and Jess replied.

“Good. Now, on the assumption that it is a heart—”

“It is,” Rey said interrupting Poe.

Poe held up a finger. “Well let’s just assume for a second, shall we? Now, does this, completely theoretical creature, have a brain?”

“It’s not theoretical, it’s right there,” mumbled Rey under her breath. However, louder she said, “It has…thoughts but it’s like any low level intelligence. Nothing completely coherent. Just feelings and emotions.”

“Why the hell would the Temple send us here?” asked Finn. “What’s its purpose?”

“You make it sound like somebody made it,” said Rey. “I don’t think anyone did. It’s just here. The Jedi probably found it and cataloged it simply for study and research. The amount of Force energy coming from it, living in it, it’s insane.”

“Maybe there’s a way to tap into it,” suggested Jess.

“Perhaps, but it’s not like we can just move it somewhere and use it. Besides we don’t know what it can sense. We could end up hurting it,” Rey said.

“Well, in that case we should do a quick analysis of it and then keep going,” Poe said. “From the completely theoretical thing of course.”

“Of course,” Rey said with a role of her eyes.

“But wait, aren’t we getting closer?” asked Finn.

“The waves would probably destroy our ship at surface level,” Poe said.

“Yes,” Rey said, “except now they’re slowing down.”

“What? Is it dying?” asked Poe, confused.

“No but—”

“The gravity is changing!” Jess shouted out.

“What?”

“Changing,” Jess repeated. “It’s get…shit! Poe get us out of here!”

Rey and Poe immediately got the ship to turn around and tried to move away but all they did was get closer.

“It’s strong than the engines? What about the hyperdrive?” asked Finn hurriedly.

“Starting it now,” Poe said.

“How long?” asked Rey.

R2 beeped quickly.

“Three minutes! That’s to late!” cried Poe.

Immediately everyone leapt about. They had been somewhat shocked but now it seemed very likely that they would be crushed by gravity or at least crash land onto the creature.

“Come on come on!” Poe yelled.

They tried everything and R2 went screaming about the Falcon, trying everything it could think of but the ship wouldn’t do it. They were getting closer and closer. The heartbeat had apparently stopped or slowed enough that they were near the planet surface now. The gravity was enough to pull them but it was keeping them from being crushed.

“Is it doing it on purpose?” questioned Poe as his hands flew over the controls. He might as well have sat still though for all it was doing.

“I don’t know! BB-8 anything!?”

The little droid beeped sorrowfully as it rolled around.

“What about the escape pods?!” Finn yelled.

“We’ll just get pulled in quicker with those. No point!” shouted Rey.

They started to move quicker.

“Alright, strap yourselves in!” cried Poe. “The best we can do is hope we survive this landing!”

“R2,have you tried sending a transmission out?” asked Finn as he strapped himself in.

R2 responded with a depressing yes but that the signal was unable to move past the giant creature.

“Shit,” muttered Poe. “This information has to be sent to the Resistance!”

“We’ll just have to survive this then,” Rey growled out. “Brace yourselves!”

The Millennium Falcon crashed onto the creature’s surface. Poe was able to make it skid though instead of a direct hit and they finally stopped after slamming into the wall of what was crater like but seemed to smooth to be from an actual object plummeting into the creature’s skin. All bodies were yanked against their straps as the Falcon finally stopped.

The droids released their utility arms and immediately went around checking the humans. R2 took extra time with Finn.

“I’m fine,” gasped Finn. “Fine.

R2 beeped fervently.

“Never mind,” Finn said.

“What’d R2 say?” asked Poe. He coughed, undid the buckles, and slowly got up from his chair.

R2 repeated itself and Jess immediately muttered, “Shit. A pulmonary contusion. Come on Finn.”

“A what?” asked Poe.

“Bruised lung,” Jess supplied. “Stop waving me off Finn. We need to get you in a better position.”

Finn tried to say he was okay but his only response was coughing up blood.

“Don’t panic Poe,” Jess said before he could cry out. “We don’t know how bad it is yet. You and Rey just focus on the ship and getting us out of here. I’ll make sure Finn doesn’t drop on us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now things are getting heated up. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed :)


	11. Chapter 11

Finn was having difficulty breathing. He was laid out as Jess ran through all the scans and protocols needed. He really wished he could just go to sleep but he needed to stay aware.

“It’s worse than just a bruised lung,” Finn got out. Force it hurt to breath. “Isn’t it?”

“You should stop talking. Breathing is difficult enough for you. Don’t make it harder,” Jess replied.

R2 beeped in agreement.

“Yeah but…just tell me how bad.”

Jess sighed. “You’re going to have extensive bruising throughout your chest. You have three broken rips and besides the bruising in your lungs one is punctured as well.”

“Perfect,” wheezed Finn.

“Hey, you’re not going to die okay? Just do what I tell you.”

“Yes ma’am,” murmured Finn. He stayed silent, or as silent as his uneasy breathing allowed it, before finally adding, “Don’t tell Poe all this. He’ll worry…way to much.”

“Believe me. I know,” Jess sighed. She continued with helping Finn and making him as comfortable as possible. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to check on Poe and Rey. Just try and relax.”

Finn let out another series of coughs. “Got it.”

Jess headed back to the cockpit where Rey and Poe were trying their best with the ship. “Hey guys, how you doing?”

“Bruising, bit hard to breath but not to bad,” Poe replied. “How’s Finn?”

“He’ll be fine. It’ll just take a while. Have you figured out what’s broken?” asked Jess.

Rey nodded. “It’s fixable but it’s going to take several days. That’s not the biggest problem though. Remember how it seemed like this creature was giving off energy similar to a star?”

“Yeah,” Jess said.

“Well it started doing that again. Right above the atmosphere is like a shield that gives off so much heat and radiation that when we fix this, if we were to fly off, we’d get incinerated.”

“Why haven’t we already gotten incinerated?” asked Jessika.

“It’s only expelling the heat one way. Right now we’re at a pretty comfortable temperature. An atmosphere even formed.”

Poe frowned at that. “Wait, an atmosphere? How the hell is that happening?”

“I…don’t know for sure but I think the creature knows we’re here. The atmosphere has been fluctuating but it’s begining to stabilize into something we can breath.”

“So what? We’re its prisoners?” asked Poe.

Rey shook her head. “I don’t think so. I think it was grabbing us for food but then realized there were life forms on board. It can sense us.”

“Can you talk to it at all? Maybe ask it nicely to let us out and away?” Jess said.

“I can try—oh. Now that’s interesting,” Rey murmured as she glanced at the screen. “I’m getting a faint distress signal. It’s not far from here.”

“You mean someone else got dragged here?” Poe asked. “Can you tell who?”

“No, the ship is trying to decrypt it, but nothing is really getting through as of right now. Should we check it out?”

“I think we should,” said Poe. “I mean, that signal could have been going on for centuries and whatever was there is now dead or it could be somebody needing help. Send out a signal to them.”

“No can do. All transmissions are down,” said Rey.

“Then I’ll go out there,” Poe suggested. “Maybe they’ll be able to fix the Falcon quicker or we can help them. Or maybe they know exactly what the hell this thing is and why it’s here. And why it’s pulled us in.”

“If you go out there, wear an EVA suit,” Jess said. “The atmosphere may be breathable now but if this creature can control its own atmosphere then at any point you could end up dead. Might as well not take any chances.”

“Hey, if this thing can make a protective shell as hot as a star, we’re taking chances just being here. I mean, it can change its gravity to pull in objects! If it really wanted to, it could crush us in seconds. Splat! Good bye team.”

“Just wear the EVA suit, Poe,” sighed Jess.

“I will. I’m just saying. Taking precautions is kind of pointless right now,” he replied.

“We back within the hour,” Rey said. “If you haven’t found anything we’ll do another search tomorrow. Maybe by then I’ll be able to send a transmission to them.”

“Sounds good to me. See you guys in a bit,” Poe replied and then left.

He checked on Finn before leaving and then headed out onto the alien’s skin. It was like walking on rock but it was ungodly smooth and Poe nearly slipped a few times. Getting over the edge of the crater wall was the hardest part but once he was out it got a bit easier. He started heading in the direction of the signal.

Outside the crater, the ground was just as smooth but here and there was what seemed like hair. Standing taller than himself and appearing very similar to the creatures skin, each strand stood a good several feet apart. It made Poe wonder what exactly the crater was to the creature, an old wound or some indent with a purpose. More than ever though he felt incredibly small as he moved forward.

After about thirty minutes, he had found nothing else and it was obvious he would need to start heading back then so as not to worry the others. He turned around and started walking again when he suddenly fell forward.

This was not from slipping, though, but from a familiar feeling of someone pushing hard at his mind. The sudden push was similar to an aquatic animal having its glass home mercilessly tapped. Poe’s ears were ringing as he shuffled to his feet and pulled off the helmet of the EVA suit to get a better look around. He spun but still didn’t see anything.

Then there was that feeling of pushing again. Someone was trying to get inside his head.

Poe immediately started to book it but even if he hadn’t been lugging around the heavy EVA suit, he only got a foot before he became frozen in the position.

He heard the footsteps from behind him but Poe didn’t need a face to know who it was. He had known the moment he’d felt their presence in his head again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry-not-sorry for the cliffhanger. Hope you enjoyed!


	12. Chapter 12

Kylo Ren walked into Poe’s line of sight. He was in similar cloths to what he had worn the last time Poe had seen him only this time his mask was gone. He hadn’t seen the man’s face in a long time. He could see how he’d changed from the boy that Poe had once known but it was still him. He wished that he was monstrous looking, utterly hideous. It would have been easier for Poe to believe that he hadn’t once been the kid Ben Solo. The new scar across Kylo’s face helped some but not enough.

“Rey give you that?” Poe asked. As his fingers itched to pull out his blaster, he kept his voice slightly indifferent, a bit flippant and joking like when he’d been captured by Kylo Ren all that time ago. Perhaps if Poe acted like he wasn’t scared out of his wits right now then that feeling would disappear.

“Yes.”

Poe was surprised Kylo answered truthfully.

“How is FN-2187? Still alive?” continued Kylo.

“It’s Finn and yes, he is. Alive and well,” replied Poe.

“Something in your voice suggests that this is not true,” Kylo murmured.

Poe tried not to think of Finn coughing up blood and wheezing for breath. Again, he felt Kylo trying to force his way into his mind. Luke had done a good job though. He couldn’t get in but the continued force against his mind was still painful.

Kylo’s eyes narrowed but he kept himself from going into a rage at the failure. Instead, he replied, “My uncle has helped you immensely. I’m surprised. I didn’t believe something so broken could be put back together.”

“Hey, you did good Ben but not that good,” Poe said in a teasing manor. “Then again, we all have performance issues so it’s not anything to get angry about.”

Kylo’s eyes narrowed and Poe could see the rage flickering in his eyes yet he didn’t make a move. Poe expected him to lash out but instead he was waiting and still looking at Poe in a calculating manor. It was unnerving and the silence was allowing the fear to creep back up so Poe kept talking.

“You know, this is a pretty big coincidence. Whatcha here for? Just you or you got an army behind you? I know you were sending out a distress signal so obviously you’re stuck here. Maybe we could have some fun, play a game or something. Not much else to do when you’re stuck on—”

“You continue to jest but your body gives you away,” Kylo interrupted. Slowly, a small smile moved across his lips. It should have been sweet and shy and endearing like the small ones he would give when he was younger. Instead, Poe only saw a dark satisfaction. “Luke Skywalker may have kept your mind from the likes of me but there are still scars. Your joking nature is not true like it was before. You’re terrified.”

“Who said anything about terrified?” chuckled Poe. He honestly didn’t know how he’d made that seem convincing but he had. “You’re basically a kid going through a belated teenage phase. What’s to be afraid of?”

“Quite a lot,” Kylo Ren replied honestly. It seemed that no amount of convincing on Poe’s part would change Kylo Ren’s assumption. It didn’t matter what Poe poked fun at him for. Kylo knew that he was affecting Poe, even if he tried not to show it. “Now, who else is with you?”

“Just me.”

“You lie.”

“How do you know? You can’t get in my head,” Poe countered.

“Despite this great beast’s hold on the Force, I still sense the other life signs. Who is with you?”

Poe once again felt the onslaught of his mind but Kylo Ren didn’t get in. Poe tried to gather himself, making it seem like it wasn’t as jarring as it was. “Sorry, all alone.”

Kylo Ren lapsed into silence again and Poe could see the gears turning in his head. What to do with the Resistance pilot?

“The Force leads to a great deal of help in gaining information,” Kylo finally said, “but there are always other forms of inflictions that can be performed on someone.”

He flicked his wrist slightly and Poe automatically bit his bottom lip to keep from crying out in shock. A sharp pain had appeared in his left shin. He couldn’t look down to see what Kylo Ren had done but man it hurt. The shock and suddenness of it was the worst part but the pain was still there, even if it had ebbed a bit after a few seconds.

“A small fracture,” Kylo said. “I can create more. I can make you feel so much pain that you won’t be able to move.”

“Do it,” replied Poe. “I’m not telling you anything.”

“How amusing. That’s what you said the last time.” He flicked his wrist again. “Who is with you?”

Poe remained frozen as small cracks were made in his skeletal structure. The moment the pain ebbed, another fracture was made somewhere else. Eventually, Poe could feel blood blossoming on his bottom lip from where he was biting to hard. He just had to keep the scream in. He couldn’t give Kylo that satisfaction.

Blood trickled down his chin.

If he opened his mouth, Poe knew he wouldn’t be able to close it again. He just had to get through this. He had to stay calm.

His heart beat at a thunderous rate.

Unbidden tears welled up in his eyes.

Slowly, his jaw tried to force itself open despite Poe’s attempts.

He screamed.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Normally I wouldn't update twice in a day but I did feel bad about the last chapter so here's another chapter. Sorry, not sorry, I'm an awful human being who loves putting my fav characters in pain. Sorry and please enjoy :)

Poe was no longer kept frozen by the Force but that didn’t matter. He could barely move without pain rocking his body. He’d tried to push himself up, to run, but he’d nearly feinted in the process. But he hadn’t told Kylo who was with him. He hadn’t said anything else. There was a small feeling of accomplishment in that at least.

Kylo Ren had walked off not about half a minute ago and Poe honestly had no idea where he was going. Poe just had to somehow muster enough energy to warn the others. But how? He was to far away. He couldn’t move. The comms were down.

Poe tried to move forward but he got probably an inch before he heard a noise behind him.

“Pitiful,” came a voice. “It’s hard to imagine him a leader of anything now.”

“Hux,” Poe mumbled, his voice hoarse from screaming. “Come to join the party?”

General Hux let out a small snort. “Humor is still intact.” He nudged one of Poe’s arms with his foot and Poe let out a strangled whimper. “But he is immobile at the moment. One less man to deal with from his crew.”

“Very true. I believe Rey is a part of it along with the former stormtrooper.”

Poe’s stomach dropped.

“You said he hadn’t revealed any information.”

“No but I’ve had time to reach out. This creature still masks them but I have a sense of what direction they're in and more than one person feels familiar,” Kylo responded.

“When was that?” asked Hux.

“About twenty minutes ago.”

“So you wasted valuable time simply to play with it?”

“There was still a chance to get valuable information! Besides, it allowed me to travel back to camp without dragging him with me!” Kylo shouted back.

Hux sniffed. “I do see a point in that. Still, the possibility of him warning his crew and informing them where are base is would be slim.”

“But a risk. One which I eliminated,” hissed Kylo. “Would you rather our chance of getting off this rock be destroyed?”

“When did I suggest such a thing—!”

“Boys…boys,” murmured Poe. “Don’t fight. What would Daddy Snoke think—”

“Did I speak to you Resistance scum?!” Hux growled out. “No I did not!”

Poe cried out as Hux viciously kicked him. He curled in on himself even though it realistically didn’t do any good.

“You should have questioned him. Clearly you have some anger you need to work out,” replied Kylo.

“Me?! Who’s the one who constantly destroys equipment because things don’t go his way,” Hux icily shot out.

Kylo looked as if he was about to rise to the bait but suddenly backed down much to the surprise of Hux and Poe. “We need to get going. We don’t know what kind of state their ship is in. They could have repaired it by now.”

“Fine. But it’s your job to bring the scum,” Hux spit out before stalking off.

Poe felt himself being lifted by the Force. He moved beside Kylo as the two stalked off in the direction of the Falcon with three stormtroopers behind them.

He felt sick. It hadn’t mattered that he’d kept silent. They were headed towards the Falcon. Five against three-no two really. And what about the information of the outer systems? What if the First Order got their hands on it? The near four month journey would have been for nothing. The Resistance would still be stuck on D’Qar and likely down four good soldiers.

But what was Poe to do? The last time he’d been this helpless it had seemed like the end too. Then, as if out of nowhere, a stormtrooper had helped him escape. Only problem was that Finn seemed pretty out of commission too and Poe doubted any of the three stormtroopers behind him would help. Besides, Kylo Ren was right there.

So Poe floated above the ground, trying to stay awake and aware.

After some time, an idea came to his mind though. He tried to push an idea, a thought, a feeling towards Rey. Just some form of warning.

Poe was suddenly dropped to the ground and he screamed out in pain.

“If you keep doing that, I’ll drag you the rest of the way,” hissed Kylo Ren before Poe was moved again.

Poe was just barely able to keep his thoughts in order. It was nearly impossible to concentrate now, his entire body suffering. Still, if Kylo Ren had felt his warning, maybe, a slim maybe but still a maybe, Rey had heard him.

Minutes passed and Poe remained silent even when he could form a coherent thought together. He’d already proven they hadn’t completely broken him. No point in calling death sooner than necessary. Still, the urge was there for much of the walk as Kylo Ren bickered with Hux nearly constantly.

Then they were suddenly at the crater rim. The Falcon was just over that edge.

“Looks like a slippery slope,” Kylo murmured. “What’s your assessment on it Poe?”

Oh he should have known this would happen. Poe braced himself as he was flung over the edge and rolled down the crater. His vision faded in and out but he fought it. Once at the bottom he craned his head up and saw the Millennium Falcon. Rey was already out and all Poe wanted to do was to yell at her to keep Finn and Jess safe, to keep the data safe, but only pained noises escaped his throat.

He watched as her hand went behind her back where her staff had once hung. Instead, she pulled out her lightsaber and the double-bladed weapon lit up, her stance ready and waiting.


	14. Chapter 14

“How about now R2?” Rey yelled out. The little droid let out a positive noise signaling that the repair was working. “Good, Jess how are things back there?” she asked as Blue Three walked into the cockpit.

“Ok I guess.”

Rey sighed. “It was a good call keeping all the info away from Poe. He probably would’ve found it impossible to leave Finn’s side after knowing what state he’s really in.”

“He would have,” Jess agreed. “And the ship?”

“Getting there. Between me, R2, and Poe when he gets back we’ll definitely finish up by the third day.”

“And what of actually getting out of here?” asked Jess.

“I’ve been…communicating with the creature. I think. It absorbs rocks, comets and asteroids, it thought we were one as well. But it feels the life here. It doesn’t want to destroy us. If it did, it could have easily done so,” Rey replied.

“What do you think it is?” Jess asked curiously.

“I honestly don’t know. It may be a freak of nature. A one of a kind. It’s incredibly old but its intelligence level isn’t like ours. It’s either to far below or so much more complex that I can’t fully understand it.”

“But you know it doesn’t want to hurt us.”

Rey nodded.

“Well there’s some relief in that. Have you figured out what the heat shield is for?”

“I think it’s to protect the creature from space. To drag things to its surface it can last in the vacuum of space for a time but it can’t be permanent. It didn’t put it up to trap us here. It’s simply protecting itself.”

“Do you think you can convince it to let it down for a bit?” questioned Jess. “What if we used the hyperdrive from here?”

“It’s a possibility but we could turn ourselves into dust. It’s best if we don’t risk that. And I’ve been trying to get across that point to the creature. But like I said. We can’t exactly communicate easily. If I push that idea to hard on it now, it might let go of the shield now and then Poe would be dead,” Rey said.

“That’s certainly a valid point,” Jess sighed. “He should be back soon. Keep an eye out for him.”

“Will—”

“Rey! What’s wrong?” Jess rushed. She grabbed Rey’s trembling figure. Slowly, she got her into a chair before she could fall straight to the ground. “BB-8! Get over here!”

The droid left Finn’s bedside and rolled over to them but Rey waved the droid away.

“No it’s-it’s not physical, BB. Go back to Finn,” Rey got out. “Of all the planets in all the galaxy…why?”

The droid beeped uncertainly.

“Go. He needs you more than I do at the moment.”

BB-8 slowly moved away, giving one last look before heading back to Finn.

“If it’s not physical…the Force. What did you feel in the Force?” asked Jess.

Rey remained silent, trying to get her thoughts in line.

“Was it Poe?”

Rey bit her bottom lip.

“He’s not…”

“He’s not dead,” Rey finished and there was a momentary look of relief for Jess. However, clearly something wasn’t right and she waited for Rey to finish. “He…he’s headed this way…getting closer. But he’s in pain. In danger.”

“Do you know who’s with him?”

“It’s…” Rey trailed off as she reached out, as she searched. Ice seized her heart at finding the source.

“Oh my…it’s the First Order. Isn’t it?” Jess whispered. She didn't need the words. She could tell from the look on Rey's face.

Rey gave a small nod. “And worse, Kylo Ren is with them.”

“R2, can we get the shields up?” Jess asked.

The droid gave a thumbs up.

“Okay. We’re going on the defensive here,” Jess said, automatically taking the role of leader. “R2, store all our data onto your hard drive then wipe the ship. We don’t know if they know our mission to find a new home for the Resistance but on the off chance they do, we need to keep that information from them. Rey.”

“Yes?”

“I know you’re not going to like this but the mission is priority.”

Rey gave a shaky nod.

“Okay, good. I want you to be out there to meet them. Keep them talking so that R2 is able to clean the ship. It’s likely they’re just here because they crashed as well.”

“But you just said—”

“We’ll need to corporate with them in some form or another if we’re to get this information back to the Resistance and complete our mission,” supplied Jess. “Just remember they clearly need some form of help if they’re stuck here as well.”

“What do we tell Finn?”

“Nothing. He needs to rest and heal. This will tear him up inside even if he remains laying down back there,” Jess replied. “Now go. I’ll join you when I’m positive that all the data is out of their reach.”

Rey hurried outside of the ship. She reached into the Force and searched for Poe again. They were close by. She remembered what Jess had said but if Kylo took one move towards Poe…she’d have to do something, anything. She wouldn’t let him die.

About a minute more passed before she finally spotted movement at the top of the crater and then Poe was being shoved over the side. Instinctively, Rey wanted to throw herself towards him but she remained still.

Kylo Ren smoothly slid down the crater. General Hux was with him. At the edge, three stormtroopers remained with their guns trained on her. She took one look at them and then looked back to Kylo and Hux as they carelessly stepped over Poe’s quivering form.

She took out her lightsaber. It was the second time she’d even turned the thing on since it had been made. Nevertheless, her feet naturally moved into a ready stance as she tried to move her focus away from Poe and towards Kylo Ren.


	15. Chapter 15

“How sweet. You’ve found yourself a new toy,” Kylo Ren murmured. He took out his own lightsaber, the blade crackling with instability.

“I’m not a child,” Rey replied. “Which is more than I can say for you. How’s the face?”

“Manageable,” growled out Kylo Ren. He kicked at Poe savagely. “How’s the pride? It must be distressing seeing your leader like this.”

“Will both of you stop this pointless banter?” Hux interrupted. “We are here to negotiate. Not for you to feel better about yourself.”

Kylo bristled. “You would not have me kill this scum?!”

“Oh, I’d immensely enjoy it,” Hux replied with a huff. “But you said you sensed multiple people. I see one in front of us. Where are the others?”

“Glad to see there are some brains in the First Order,” Rey replied. She didn’t turn her lightsaber off but she did ease her stance ever so slightly. “If you kill me or Poe, we’ll have the Falcon self-destruct. And don’t worry, the blast radius would easily engulf you lot.”

Though they didn’t know it, Rey had simply come up with that idea on the spot. She was pleasantly pleased with herself and even more so when Jess suddenly came out.

“Yep,” Jess said, “the rest of our crew is priming it. So, want to stick around?”

“We will not attack you unless necessary,” Hux replied smoothly.

Jess gave a small nod in acknowledgement just as Kylo cried out, “What?!”

Hux slowly turned and gave Kylo a chilling side long glance. “If you would like to remain stranded here until we run out of food, luck upon luck another ship arrives, or I strangle you to death then be my guest but as of now, this is our best option. I would cherish watching the life drain from their eyes but that day is not today. Now…Resistance scum, we need parts for our ship.”

“I’d think you’d talk to us with a little more respect then,” Jess said.

“And I’d imagine you’d be a little less bold seeing as we have your commanding officer here,” Hux replied as he glanced at the ground. “Now, we are in an ideal situation for a trade. We have something you want. You have something we want.”

“Well what pieces do you need?” asked Jess. “We don’t really know if we can help you unless we have a list.”

Hux snapped his fingers and one of the soldiers slid down. They hesitated but Hux motioned them towards Rey and Jess.

Rey’s stance readied but the stormtrooper didn’t make a move and only pulled out a drive. “The list,” they said.

Jess took it and immediately the stormtrooper backed away.

“I’ll take a look at it. Rey, you stay here. Keep an eye on them,” Jess said. She gave Rey a comforting squeeze on the shoulder and shot Poe one last look. However, the man had finally passed out, unable to keep himself awake any longer.

She quickly ran back into the Falcon but of course Finn was there to stop her from heading straight to the cockpit.

“You shouldn’t be up,” she hissed.

“It doesn’t matter. I know what’s going on out there so don’t even think about lying to me.”

“Finn—”

“Poe’s in trouble. Alright, I’m not going to break down here and now. I’ll leave that for the possible funeral if we don’t happen to all be sharing one,” Finn got out quickly, coughing in between sentences. “So, what is the plan?”

“Follow me to the cockpit,” sighed Jess, knowing she wouldn’t be able to convince Finn otherwise.

They both sat in the pilot and copilot chairs. Jess motioned to BB-8 and R2-D2. “Hey, get ready to defend and counterattack against a possible virus.”

The droids beeped questioningly.

“I don’t know for sure but I wouldn’t put it past the First Order to try and destroy the computers,” Jess replied.

She plugged in the drive and waited. R2 and BB-8 beeped and whirred for a good minute before finally confirming no virus or any other harmful data.

“They must really need help if they’re not trying to ground us,” muttered Finn.

The list was pulled up.

“Shit, they are in trouble if this is what they’re missing. I’m not sure we can even fly without this stuff,” Jess muttered.

Finn fought back a bout of coughing as he leaned over and looked over the list. “I’d show it to Rey but I—Force! Sorry. I think we may be able to make it work,” Finn finally got out, wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. “Yeah, it’s really the First Order that’s going to need some work. We may have the parts but they may be to old to be compatible with what they’ve got.”

“That is true. I’ll run it by Rey, see what she thinks. You get back to that bed,” Jess ordered.

“Wait. What about blowing this up? Are we actually going to do that or is it just a bluff?” asked Finn.

“It’s a bluff,” Jess said. “Which means that you get this information and this ship out of the First Order’s hands no matter what.”

“Even if that means leaving you—”

“All of us,” interrupted Jess. “Even if we’re all left for dead. You have to keep this information safe. If the First Order finds it then it’ll push the Resistance back and they’ll be stuck on D’Qar and if the First Order musters up enough forces, they could raid that planet for everything it has. Maybe they’ve already done it. Who knows. We’ve been gone for ages. But you do what you can to protect the Resistance first and foremost. Can you do that?”

“Yeah,” murmured Finn.

“You sure?”

He nodded.

“Okay, I’ll probably be back to start scavenging the ship for these parts. You go lay down. You look like you’re going to pass out,” Jess sighed.

Finn nodded again and watched her walk out of the cockpit room. Letting go of a shaky breath which led to a multitude of coughing, he looked back to the droids.

BB-8 gave a sorrowful whine, asking if they would really leave Poe.

“I don’t know,” Finn answered honestly. “I just don’t know.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always! Please enjoy!

Rey watched Jess hurry back out. She leaned over and fervently started whispering in her ear. Rey nodded along with it, trying to think what they could replace certain parts with and how they would be able to fly after tearing the Falcon apart like that.

“Alright,” she murmured back. “All we need is to be able to jump into hyperspace and jump back to D’Qar. We’re lucky they don’t need anything along those lines.”

“Isn’t landing kind of important though?” Jess whispered back.

“I’ll make it work somehow,” Rey softly replied. Turning back to the First Order, she said more loudly, “Alright. We’ll start getting the pieces together. However, Poe must stay within sight of us at all times until your work is done.”

“Fine. Ren will stay with you then,” Hux responded. Upon Ren’s astonished look, Hux replied, “It would be pointless having a stormtrooper guard him with a Jedi here. Even if she is in training. Besides, you know nothing of _fixing_ a ship.” There was obviously a double meaning behind that. “So, you get us the parts. When our ship is fixed, Ren will leave and you may take the pilot back. We both leave peacefully.”

“Deal,” Rey and Jess replied. Neither truly believed that the other would stick to this but it was the best they could do for the moment.

“I’ll be back with all that I can carry,” Jess added and then left.

Once again, they were left in a tense silence as they waited for Jess to gather the parts. Rey thought of questioning them about why they were there but guesswork was really all she needed. Somehow Snoke had discovered this creature, sensed it, found a map to it, something, and had sent them out to investigate, see if he could use it as a weapon. They sure as hell wouldn’t have come all that way to make friends. Rey wondered if Kylo had reached out to the creature as well, if they had…conversed in any way. She wondered if the creature could sense the difference between the two groups or if it just saw them as the same. Tiny life forms that had the unfortunate luck of coming near it.

Besides, striking up a conversation with the First Order would more than likely lead to senseless yelling back and forth, and most likely between Hux and Kylo it seemed. Those two were still very much at odds with each other.

An hour passed as Jess went in and out. Some pieces were easier to gather, some required extreme care, and others she had to drag one by one due to their massive girth. When it was finally over with, Hux ordered the three stormtroopers to approach and begin gathering up what they could.

Once they had grabbed what they could, Hux turned to Kylo and said, “I’ll have several more teams sent back to gather the rest. Once the comms are fully operational I’ll send a message for you to come back.”

“Are you sure? Not planning on leaving me are you? Snoke wouldn’t like that,” Kylo said icily.

“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it,” replied Hux, his eyes narrowed and his entire body radiating with annoyance. He motioned towards the three stormtroopers and the group started to traverse up the crater’s edge.

Slowly, Rey moved her attention back to Kylo Ren. She sat down and turned off her lightsaber, a gesture of faith. Nevertheless, she kept her blade near her and Kylo Ren mimicked her position. Poe lay half a foot away from him, still unconscious. Rey couldn’t see any visible bruises, cuts, or any signs of torture yet it had been obvious that Poe had been in immense pain. It hadn’t been the Force though, or at least she hadn’t thought so. There was something more physical about his pain. Besides, Luke had done an incredible job helping to fix his mind. Rey wouldn’t be surprised if Kylo had grown in power sense their last meeting but she doubted he was more powerful than Luke.

Would Poe die within the time it took for the ship to get fixed? Exactly how bad was he? She began to reach out but was interrupted in her concentration when Jess suddenly said, “I’ll be repairing the ship. Scream if you need anything.”

Rey let out a small snort. “I’ll keep it in mind.” She watched Jess go and then turned her focus back to Kylo Ren and Poe. Before she could go back to reaching out to him, Kylo spoke.

“He’s not going to die if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Rey narrowed her eyes. Kylo had sensed her reaching out to Poe.

“But he may never be able to walk again. May have a permanent limp, shorter arm, who knows. He’s not exactly getting good medical care at the moment.”

“What did you do to him?” asked Rey. It was impossible to get the anger completely out of her voice. Instead, she used what control she had on her body, remaining still.

Kylo cocked his head to the side. “I questioned him.”

“I know that you bastard. What did you do to him?” Rey repeated.

“I asked him a question.” Before Rey could get truly pissed, Kylo quickly continued. “He refused to answer so I fractured his shin and asked him again. He replied with a snide comment so I produced a fracture on his other shin. You know, you must be proud of him. It took much longer for him to start screaming—”

Rey didn’t even realize she had moved yet suddenly she was on her feet and her lightsaber was out. Yet Jess had appeared seemingly out of nowhere as well. She could feel Jess’ arms around her waist, holding her tight, as she yelled in her ear not to do it.

Rey looked at Kylo who had remained sitting. Nevertheless, his blade was out and resting just above Poe’s neck. She could see the perspiration forming on the skin.

Slowly, she sheathed the blade and she could feel Jess taking a step back. Rey sat back down in her former position, legs crossed and lightsaber at her side. “I’m not going to give you a reason.”

Kylo Ren looked her over once and then the red blade was gone and he put his lightsaber down as well. “Shame,” he said and then remained quite. However, his face betrayed him and Rey could see the joy plastered there.

He’d gotten a rise out of her and she’d let him. Rey didn’t speak, only nodding to Jess that it was alright for her to go now.


	17. Chapter 17

It was after the second group of stormtroopers had come and left when Poe woke up again. He wanted to see Finn or Rey or Jess or BB-8 or R2. He wanted to see the inside of the Falcon or another familiar ship or even a base back on D’Qar. He’d be happy if Chewbacca was the first thing he laid eyes on! Just something familiar!

Well, perhaps he shouldn’t have thought that. Now, the first things his eyes set on was Kylo Ren’s face. He sat perfectly still, staring at something, so Poe followed his line of sight.

It was Rey! He was by the Falcon still! But what had happened. They clearly hadn’t fought and he was still alive but what had happened to Hux and the stormtroopers?

He saw Rey catch sight of him and she jerked forward but froze. Looking back towards Kylo, he saw that he had also tensed, one hand stretched towards Poe and ready.

Rey eased back into her former position.

“You better be careful ,” Kylo said. “Would be a shame if I accidently snapped his neck.”

Rey remained silent but Poe couldn’t help himself. He had to talk. It was the only thing he could do that didn’t cause an immense amount of pain and he had to do something or else all there would be were his thoughts. He didn’t want to stay with them right now.

“I don’t think you have it in you,” Poe said.

Rey’s eyes widened at Poe but Kylo just slowly turned his head and gave him a bemused look. “You really think that?”

“I use to give you piggyback rides,” Poe replied. He shifted onto his side. It hurt as much as his stomach but at least it gave him a better vantage point of everything and didn’t put his neck in that awful position. “Remember when you were worried that you wouldn’t be a good Jedi? Remember when I comforted you?”

“Oh, certainly,” Kylo said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I also remember you did nothing when my parents pushed me away.”

“It’s not like I had much pull. Besides, I was still a kid back then,” Poe replied.

“True, but I wouldn’t be so ready to remind me of our buddy-buddy relationship,” Kylo replied cooly.

Poe flinched as Kylo’s hand came for him but Kylo simply grabbed Poe’s hair. It kept Poe from moving but wasn’t painful. Rey was clearly on edge but she still hadn’t made a move yet.

“You should remember that I killed my father. Killing a _friend_ wouldn’t be that difficult.”

“Well depends on how you’d kill me I mean, are we talking free range here or—”

Kylo’s hand became tighter on Poe’s hair as he leaned towards his face. “You talk and you talk because you have no other way to keep yourself calm, to pretend it’s alright, but it’s not alright and even if I can’t get in your head now there will come a day when I break that wall and I _rip you apart_!”

Poe shrugged.

That was clearly not the reaction Kylo Ren had been hoping for.

Shrugging again, Poe said, “What? Me talking over and over is my coping mechanism so of course I know _why_ I need a coping mechanism. It’s not like you just gave me some huge revelation.”

Kylo let out a growl and pressed Poe’s face hard into the ground before finally letting go. However, that of course didn’t deter him.

“You know, you seem to be taking a lot more joy out of hurting me than you did last time. You actually getting a kick out of this or are you pretending to? Is hurting me like this your coping mechanism? You think you do it enough that you will enjoy it? That you’ll be the sadistic monster you—”

“Shut up!”

Rey was up and her lightsaber was out. One end rested underneath Kylo Ren’s neck as Poe cried out in pain.

“Stop it now or I cut off your head,” Rey said, her voice deadly soft.

Kylo Ren glanced from the blade at his throat to the place on Poe’s arm where he had his lightsaber pressing into.

“You’re fast but not that fast,” growled Rey. When Kylo Ren didn’t look convinced, she added, “Poe will probably lose the arm but we can fix that. Your head, however, is another matter all together.”

Kylo drew back his blade at the same time Rey finally took a step back and drew hers. Poe was looking over the burn area, the wound thankfully not to deep.

“To bad it’s not on my face. We could have been twinsies.”

“Poe…” This time it was Rey, her voice pleading.

“Alright, yeah I’m…shutting up. Shutting up now,” murmured Poe.

He watched Kylo Ren and Rey sit back down. He tried to think of a song, sing it in his head. He tried to think of Finn or his mother. He tried to think of BB-8 or flying. But thoughts weren’t like talking. Poe couldn’t just continue rambling or focus his voice on pointing out obvious things. His thoughts were more fluid than that. It didn’t matter how good a thought was, how pure a memory. Another thought, real or fabricated it didn’t matter. That other thought wiggled its way in and caused Poe’s heart rate to increase. They made him sweat as he saw it all happen in his head.

Poe wasn’t the first one killed. No, that would have been to kind. He could see Kylo Ren planning it out, planning for him to be the last. He saw him disarming Rey and rendering her helpless and then going in and dragging out Finn and Jess. He saw Kylo cutting them down like they were nothing and then going to work at Rey.

Then he’d leave. Where, Poe didn’t know but Kylo would be gone and then R2 and BB-8 would finally come out. He could already hear their distressed chirps and confused whirs. He could see them, in his mind’s eye, moving round and round him, not knowing how to help as he starved to death, the last image being of his dead friends.

Because Kylo Ren would do that whether because he truly wanted to or because he needed to seem more powerful. The reason didn’t matter. It was the fact that Poe could see it happening.

There was no way out. They would fail the mission. Poe would fail his friends. And it would be because of him. Because he looked for a signal and the First Order had been the last thing on his mind.

He needed Finn. He hadn’t seen Finn since he’d left. What if he wasn’t outside because he was dead? No that was stupid but…but what if it was true?

Poe could feel the episode coming on. He could feel Kylo Ren reaching into his—

No, he couldn’t do that. Luke had helped him. Luke had fixed—

But he wasn’t remembering this and Kylo was right there oh god he was in—

He wasn’t—

Poe could feel him reaching inside—

He bit his bottom lip, once again breaking skin and causing it to bleed. He curled in on himself, his form shaking uncontrollably.

Rey was on the verge of moving but of course she stayed still. She had to stay still. And on Ren’s face? He looked pleased but the success was only half there. Rey didn’t notice it, to on edge, but the regret lingered for several seconds in Kylo Ren’s eyes before finally disappearing like one turning off the lights.


	18. Chapter 18

“Finn, just shut up and hold these two wires—”

“He just went through an episode! He needs—”

“What he needs is to get off this forsaken creature like the rest of us.”

“But—”

“What are you going to do? Scare Kylo Ren away by coughing blood on him? Maybe wheezing a bit? You trying anything will lead to him pulling out his freaky lightsaber again and maybe this time he won’t stop skin deep! So shut up and start helping me fix the Falcon!”

The look that Finn gave her was much like a small kicked animal.

“I’m-oh Force Finn I’m sorry! I didn’t-you know I didn’t mean that,” Jessika sighed, covering her face with her hands. “I didn’t-shit I didn’t mean it. I’m sorry I’m so—”

“You can stop Jess I…everyone is a bit…high strung for the moment,” Finn finally got out. “Now what two wires did you want me to push together?”

“These two right here,” Jess whispered. She rubbed at her eyes and then began testing out the ship. “Good…good. Here, use this, get those two to stay together and I’ll be right back.”

Finn did as she asked. He managed to keep his hands steady as he worked through the motions but the moment the job was done he erupted into a fit of uncontrollable coughing.

“Hey, deep breaths. Just slow it down a bit…there,” Jess said with a sigh. “Alright, so if we continue like this we finish in four more days. Maybe a day or two more before the First Order finish their own and then we get Poe and we get back to D’Qar.”

“You know, we don’t have any landing mechanisms right? Or at least nothing that’s fixable,” said Finn.

“Rey will figure something out,” Jess replied. She rubbed the back of her neck and added, “I really am sorry for snapping at you Finn. I…I saw what Poe was going through. I didn’t realize it was that bad.”

Finn gave a small huff though it was difficult to tell whether it was from trouble breathing or actually a bout of ironic humor. “They’re not bad. They’re awful. They’re one of the only times Poe doesn’t feel in control, doesn’t feel sure he’ll be able to make it. He could be stranded on an asteroid, running out of air, comms down, and somehow he’d be able to stay positive. He’s that-well you know what kind of guy he is. Really, you’ve known him longer than me. But that’s beside the point. The point is he’s alone right now, his head more of an enemy than the man who is right next to him.”

“But there’s nothing we can do,” Jess replied. “Even if you went out there and gave him…words of comfort, let him know you were alright, Kylo Ren would probably bate you or try and get—”

“I have a thicker skin than you think. Besides, they’re all probably getting hungry and seeing as how they’re in a standoff, it’s not like they can go get food. I’ll go do that.”

“You should rest,” replied Jess.

“Yep, probably right. But this is something I need to do for Poe,” Finn said and then covered his mouth as another round of coughing started up. “Don’t worry. I’ll do plenty of wresting afterwards.”

Jess shook her head. “Fine. Just be careful.”

“Will do,” sighed Finn.

He went and prepared food for the three people out there and then shakily moved out of the Falcon for the first time since their crash. He watched the surprise appear on Kylo Ren’s face and whether mental or actually real, the scar on Finn’s back began to itch.

“Hey Rey, figured you might be hungry,” Finn said as he handed the food. He watched Poe’s head jerk towards him, his eyes lighting up. Finn smiled but looked towards Kylo Ren, the obstacle that was keeping him from moving forward. “Do I have permission to approach?” he asked slowly.

“I don’t need anything.”

“Okay, maybe my memories are lying to me and the First Order doesn’t eat but Poe does and after three days, which I’m assuming you’ll be stuck here longer than that, you’d be guarding a corpse.”

Kylo glared at him and suddenly raised his hand. Finn flinched, taking a step back, but all that happened was the Force pulled the remaining portions of food out of his hands and towards Kylo. It wasn’t what Finn would have preferred but it meant Poe wasn’t going to starve to death.

With that part over, Finn focused on Poe. He was shakily getting up. It was the first time since he’d come back to the Falcon that he’d been in an upright position. It was clearly taking a toll on him and all Finn wanted to do was run and support him.

Poe smiled. Finn didn’t know how he did it but it was brilliant like always despite what he was going through.

He shakily grabbed hold of the food that Kylo had dropped near him and looked back towards Finn. “You look almost as white as Rey.”

Finn laughed hard which of course caused him to release a series of deep, painful coughs but he still managed a smile back even though his was a bit more forced. “Hey, at least I can stand.”

“To true,” Poe replied. He chuckled. “Uh…funny but um-well not really funny-but I thought you might be…well just that you were—”

“I’m fine. Still banged up but fine,” Finn interrupted. No point in making Poe say the word. “I do need to go though. Falcon needs a lot of work and Jess will strangle me if I don’t actually get some rest. I’ll see you around next meal time.”

Poe gave a small nod. “Got it. Thanks for the food.”


	19. Chapter 19

Four days had passed. The last of all the materials for the First Order had been taken and the fixing up of the Falcon was done. Now they had to wait for Ren to get his orders and then there was still the issue of somehow getting the creature to let down its protective heat shield. But by that point they would all be together and away from Kylo Ren and the First Order. At least they’d have that.

The only bout of talking that occurred seemed to be when Finn came out to bring food or when Poe started talking which usually ended with another injury or at the very least a threat of a new injury. The smart thing would have been to shut up for the remaining days but Poe couldn’t do that for long. He couldn’t stay in his head with nothing but his thoughts for that long.

For Rey, she allowed her time outside to be one of meditation, growing more and more connected with the creature they were on. By this point, she could communicate with it but it still wasn’t like any language she knew. It was difficult to describe and on a completely different plane. She’d have to speak to Luke about it later but for the moment she remained in the moment.

It was two more days before anything actually happened.

Then the communication came through.

Kylo Ren listened to it and nodded.

And in a flash Rey was moving again, her hand outstretched in a desperate attempt to still Kylo—

It did. She had frozen him mid air but it wasn’t permanent. He was still pushing past her power, albeit extremely slowly. However, his eyes betrayed how shocked he was that she was able to do that.

Poe’s eyes were wide as he stared at the lightsaber that was trying to push itself towards his face but he quickly pushed himself backwards. He gasped and cried out as pain racked his body but he managed to scramble backwards just in time as Kylo Ren broke Rey’s hold on him and his lightsaber slammed into the ground. As it came back to strike at Poe again though, Rey managed to get there in time and her lightsaber managed to hit Kylo Ren’s straight on.

“We had a deal!” she growled out as she pushed back.

“Deals can be broken. You won’t be getting out of here alive!” Kylo yelled back. He jumped backwards and the rushed in close.

Rey stumbled but quickly righted herself. This wasn’t like their last fight. Kylo wasn’t injured and neither were the novices they once were. Rey had won that last battle by sheer force and luck. Now it was down to skill.

Her main goal was to keep Kylo away from Poe. If he got around her she didn’t know if she’d be able to use the Force like that again.

However, only a few seconds after the fight had begun, Rey saw that Jess and Finn had come out and were now helping Poe to the Falcon.

“Get the ship started and off the ground!”

Rey was thankful none of them tried to argue back and once they were all gone, she could fully focus on her fight with Kylo.

Inside the Falcon, Poe had convinced them to help him to the cockpit and he shakily got into the pilot’s seat.

“Poe, are you sure you can do this?” asked Finn.

“I can fly anything. Even this skeleton of a ship,” Poe replied just as he flipped a switch and warning signals went off. “Ignore that. Doesn’t apply.”

“Why?” asked Finn.

“Because the component it’s so worried about currently isn’t in the ship,” Jess said. She’d taken a seat next to Poe and their hands flew across the control panels. The ship sputtered and protested but they fought back its want to stay on the ground.

“Try to keep us in this area. I’m going to reopen the walkway.”

“If we get to close Kylo could get in,” Poe replied.

“Then don’t get to close. Trust Rey. She’ll make it,” Finn said.

He rushed past the droids and to the walkway as quickly as he could. He was wheezing and his lungs burned but he kept going and got the walkway to go down. He held tight to the ship and watched as underneath them Rey battled it out with Kylo, their lightsabers going back and forth. They seemed to evenly matched. Every time one seemed to get the advantage the other quickly retaliated and gained their own footing.

Then they were suddenly locked, both pushing back with the same amount of force. Finn couldn’t tell what would happen but then of course Rey moved back from her Jedi training. She didn’t use the force and she didn’t try to push Kylo away with her lightsaber. Instead, she supported the double-blade with one hand, punched him hard in the face with the other, and then used the Force to jump up to the platform.

“You just decked him!” Finn cried out as he closed the walk way and helped Rey up.

“Yeah and it felt great! Now to get out of here before the First Order comes. How’s the ship doing?”

“Poe and Jess have it under control. They’re setting up the hyperdrive now. Can you convince the creature to power the heat shield down?”

“I think so just…just give me a minute,” Rey replied.

She eased the tension in her muscles and concentrated. Finn left her to her own devices and headed back to the cockpit. Jess now sat in the pilot’s seat and Poe was laid out on the side.

“What happened?!”

“He just passed out,” Jess reassured him. “We’re about a minute till the jump. Rey figuring out that creature?”

“Yeah, right now,” replied Finn. He knelt beside Poe and softly ran his hands through the other man’s hair. “Will he be alright?”

“I think so. We’re going straight back to D’Qar. You and Poe are going straight to the infirmary and getting patched up. I’ll worry about the debriefing.”

Finn nodded and focused back on Poe, slowly moving his hand through Poe’s hair again in a slow, soothing fashion.


	20. Chapter 20

Jess’ eyes lit up upon seeing that the heat and radiation above them was dissipating into space. The moment it was safe for them to pass through, Jess was speeding into space and then started the hyperdrive.

Only once they were in hyperspace did Jess allow herself to breath. She turned around and upon seeing Rey there, quickly rushed to her.

Hugging her tight, Jess finally pulled back and asked, “You’re alright? No cuts, anything?”

“I’m fine, promise,” Rey replied. She couldn’t help but smile, still somewhat elated from the fight.

“Do you think Kylo Ren survived?” asked Jess.

She sighed. “I wish not but I doubt it. The First Order probably got to him before that.”

“What even happened? It was all so fast—”

“My guess is the First Order fixed their ship and then said kill them all,” Rey muttered. “But I actually stopped him! I used the Force and stopped him!”

“You were great Rey. It’s because of you that we’re all alive now.”

Rey smiled at that but it quickly left upon moving to Poe. Finn still sat next to him.

“Is he alright?” she asked quickly.

Jess nodded. “As good as can be imagined. He managed to get us off the ground and then passed out from exhaustion. Him and Finn will head to the infirmary and we’ll both see Organa to be debriefed on all of this.”

Rey nodded in agreement when suddenly BB-8 beeped persistently.

“Arriving in thirty seconds. Alright, Rey, you’re going to have to help me land this hunk of junk.”

Both girls hopped into the pilot seats and began prepping the ship right as they came out of hyperspace, D’Qar below them.

Rey quickly sent out a message to the Resistance. “This is Rey from the Millennium Falcon. We’re in need of emergency medical attention. The landing is going to be shaky.” She began to list off the pieces they were missing from the Falcon as they entered the atmosphere. A message came back directing them to the second landing bay.

Somehow Rey managed it though there were a lot of scraping and bumping before actually hitting the ground. They rocked back and forth as they jerked in their seats before coming to a full standstill.

“Okay, Finn, stay with Poe. We’ll be right back,” Jess said.

She and Rey hurried off meeting with Leia, Luke, and Chewbacca right at the opening.

“Casualties?” Leia asked.

“None but both Poe and Finn are hurt, especially Poe,” Rey replied.

Leia motioned with her hand and behind her a medical squad hurried into the wreck of the ship.

Chewie let out a hard roar that had Rey putting up both her hands. “I assure you that none of this was avoidable.”

Chewie let out another growl that was along the lines of ‘we’ll see when I let you take the Falcon out again’ but he turned silent again, allowing Leia to finish up on her questions.

“Did you complete the mission?” Leia asked.

Jess nodded and BB-8 quickly came forward. “The droid’s got all the information.”

“Good. Then let’s go some place quiter and you can give me a full detail on what happened,” Leia said. Her eyes went to Poe as he was carried out on a stretcher behind them and the wheezing Finn. She acknowledged them and then motioned for Rey, Jess, and the two droids to follow her.

The group left along with Chewbacca and Luke coming along.

Once out of the eyes of the other Resistance members, Leia turned to them and asked, “What occurred between you and Kylo Ren?”

“How did you—”

“I can tell. Were there other First Order members there? How did they find you?”

“Um, they didn’t find us,” Rey finally got out. “You see, we’d found a suitable home for the Resistance but…”

She went on, retelling what exactly occurred, finishing up right when they went into hyperspace.

“Do you think the First Order could use this creature as a weapon?” asked Luke.

“Honestly, I have no idea but it’s pretty apt in defending itself. It would probably be impossible for the First Order or really anyone wishing it harm to actually get near. It could just kill them instantly,” Rey replied.

Luke gave a small nod to that and added, “Well done on standing up against Kylo Ren and communicating with the creature. You have grown more attuned with the Force.”

Rey allowed herself a small smile at that and then looked back to Leia as she went over the data they’d brought back.

“And the First Order never found out your mission?”

“No,” Jess assured her. “They never even asked. Probably to preoccupied with getting out of there themselves.”

Leia nodded. “Thank you for what you’ve done. I’ll review the data and then send out teams to the possible planets. As for you, take the next few days off. I’m sure you need it.”

“What about Poe and Finn?” asked Rey.

“I’ll speak to them later. They’ll be free of any duties until they have both fully recovered,” Leia replied. “You are both free to go.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Poe and Finn yet but they'll be in the next chapter :)

Once outside, Jess and Rey practically ran from the curious faces and desperate questions that they knew people would ask. Instead, they headed out to the nearby lake, a common place for people to go to think and be alone and also Rey’s training ground. Just as they had both hoped, no one was there and the only thing that joined them was the lapping of the water and the breeze through the grass.

Rey closed her eyes and bent over, finally dropping the certainty and lack of doubt that she had held in front of Leia. She felt Jess put a comforting hand on her back. She didn’t even ask Rey what was wrong. She knew. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“But I told him to go out there.”

“We all agreed it was a good idea,” Jess replied. “You couldn’t have known.”

“But I should have been able to feel that Kylo Ren was there! If I’d been stronger with the Force—”

“Then Poe wouldn’t have gone looking for that distress signal,” said Jess. “Or he would have done the same thing that happened. You can’t know for sure. Isn’t Skywalker teaching you all about living in the moment, not remaining on the past and all that?”

“The guy left everything to go mope on an island for years. Luke doesn’t understand the meaning of not living in the past,” Rey deadpanned and the sudden comment actually brought a smile to Rey, particularly when Jessika laughed in response.

“Well then learn something from me. Staying in the past never helps anything. Besides, you saved his life-all of ours in fact! You fought Ren and managed to get away and give us time to get the ship going! And you broke the guy’s nose! Why not focus on that for a bit?”

“Yeah, I suppose so…and that was just instinct!” Rey said suddenly perking up.

Jess smiled. “See? We even made it back and completed our mission too.”

Rey nodded, allowing her body to somewhat relax again.

“Do you want to see Poe?”

She shook her head. “Not yet. We should give the doctor’s space and it just…it feels good to just…be. Not stuck on a small ship, not worrying about a mission, just here.”

“Yeah. Feels good to breath fresh air, actually move around. It’s good to be somewhere familiar,” Jess replied as she put an arm around Rey. Then, like one last assurance, she added, “Poe will make it through this. He will. And what he can’t carry we will.”

“We will, won’t we?” Rey hugged Jess hard before letting go and walking towards the lake’s edge. She sat down and Jess joined her.

“And you’re sure Kylo Ren is still alive?” Jess asked. “Sorry, it would just be a nice, quick ending.”

“It would have been. There and gone,” sighed Rey, “but even if I was unsure we would have known seeing Leia and Luke again. They would have known if he was gone but he’s still out there.”

“With a broken nose though. You have to be proud of that,” Jess said with a smile.

“Ha, yeah. But listen, can we please not talk about that, or Finn and Poe, or the mission, or just any of it really? We’ll all have to deal with the questions and the retellings and everything, but for now I really do just want to be here with you.”

“Ah, I think that’s the first romantic thing you’ve said to me,” Jess grinned as she leaned over and kissed Rey.

“Hey,” Rey cried out as she pulled back. “Back on Jakku saying you’re prettier than an Uthuthma is a high compliment!”

“To you, yes,” chuckled Jess, “but what you just said was incredibly sweet whether you realize it or not.”

“I was just saying the truth.”

“And that makes it even sweeter,” Jess said as she kissed Rey again. She grabbed her and pulled her back to the ground so that they were now looking up at the blue sky. “After this, we should grab a proper meal.”

“Tired of all that packaged stuff they sent with us?” grinned Rey.

“Oh Force yes! I’m starving for something more tangible.”

“Then we’ll do just that,” Rey replied. She gave Jess a peck on her cheek and then curled in on the pilot’s side as above them clouds moved and the wind blew.


	22. Chapter 22

Poe expected to see the Falcon the next time he opened his eyes. Instead, he got a better view. A familiar med bay that he knew had to be on D’Qar and a man sitting in a chair next to him, head slowly slipping from where it rested on his hand as he snored softly.

He would have let Finn sleep but he could see that he’d probably jerk himself awake once he stopped supporting his head so Poe softly spoke. “Finn? Hey, buddy…”

“Hmm…Poe you’re awake!” Finn cried out, immediately jumping up. “How are you feeling?”

“Better. Especially since I’m not really moving now,” replied Poe. He was also fairly certain he was doped up on painkillers. He couldn’t feel much of anything. “But what about you? You should be in a bed right now.”

“They tried. I’m not that bad off though as long as I just sit here. Don’t talk to much.”

“Then hush,” Poe said with a small smile. “Where are the others?”

Finn made a couple of muffled replies that had Poe rolling his eyes. “Alright, don’t be a smart-aleck.”

“Well the General debriefed them, I talked to her as well. She’ll probably want your side of things on record too.”

“That’s quick.”

“Well you’ve been asleep for three days now.”

“Ah.” Well that would explain it. “You’ve been here all that time?”

“More or less, yeah. Rey and Jess came by, the rest of the X-wing pilots, others just wanting to check in on you. Some I’m pretty sure wanted a good story. Made it pretty clear that it wasn’t the time.”

“Ah, you could have given them something,” chuckled Poe. “What about when the gravity got turned off? That was pretty funny.”

“Yeah,” Finn murmured. “But uh…there’s something…well technically Caus-Lo or another nurse or doctor is supposed to tell you this but um…well.”

“Don’t tell me I’m paralyzed.”

“What? No, no. How does that even make sense?”

“I don’t know. I was just guessing. But what is it?” asked Poe.

“The General has already requested a psych eval.”

“Okay, don’t see the problem with that.”

Finn frowned. “Well you should. She can ground you if you don’t pass.”

“She’s not going to ground one of her best pilots.”

“She will if she doesn’t think you’re fit to fly.”

“I’m fit to fly,” muttered Poe. It came out more sulky sounding than he would have liked. “It’s not any worse than what happened the first time.”

Finn sighed. “That doesn’t matter. She-we’re all worried about you and we don’t want you to put yourself or anyone else in danger.”

“I’m fit to fly,” Poe repeated.

“That’s not for you to decide,” Finn said, clearly wishing he didn’t have to. “It’s just something you’ll have to do and you’ll have to deal with the consequences.”

“I would be drowning if I was stuck on the ground. Flying helps.”

Finn covered his face with his hands. “I know but you can’t exactly stop this. I just…I felt you needed to know before someone came in and dragged you through it without explaining this first.”

Poe remained silent for a few moments, unsure of what to say. He sighed. “You’re right of course. But for my own sake, let’s just pretend it’s already happened and I passed with flying colors. I’ll be up in the air in no time.”

“Yeah, definitely,” Finn murmured. He enveloped one of Poe’s hands. He didn’t squeeze it though, being careful with the still mending bones. “I saw the damage that you went through. It’s extensive but you’ll heal. But uh…well what about—”

“He didn’t get in my head,” Poe said. “Don’t worry about that. Luke did a good job. Pissed Kylo off to no end.”

“Well there’s one small victory,” sighed Finn. “When do you want me to go get the General for your debrief?”

Poe opened his mouth to say ‘now’ but stopped. He finally closed his mouth and just thought about it, silent for several increments before saying, “Not yet. Just…give me a moment.”

“No problem,” Finn replied.

“Tell me what’s happened. All the information get back to the Resistance safe and sound?”

“Yep. We completed it. Organa's sent out teams to the habitable planets. She’s expecting that, as long as nothing horrible happens, we should be able to begin shifting our forces to a new location within the month.”

“That’s good to hear. Finally out of the First Order’s knowledge once more,” murmured Poe. “And how are Rey and Jess? Did Rey get injured?”

“No, she walked away without a scratch. And Jess is good too. They’ve been taking some time away from everything, you know, just getting acclimated to being around more than just us.”

“And BB-8 and R2-D2?”

“R2’s been with the General mostly though it did check in on you. BB-8 has basically been like me, never really leaving your side except when necessary. The droid is going through a routine check on its data core at the moment,” replied Finn.

“Damn, I hate missing those. I always like to do them myself.”

“Afraid someone’s going to screw up your droid?”

Poe let out a hard laugh. “Naw, I trust them it’s just…BB is mine, my responsibility, my partner, my friend. Taken care of me more times than I can count so I like to take care of the little guy when I can too.”

“If you hadn’t said BB then I might have thought you were talking about me.”

Poe erupted into a fit of giggles that had both grinning. “It does, doesn’t it? How weird, never noticed that.”

“Probably why BB-8 was so mistrusting of me at first. Didn’t like the competition,” Finn grinned.

“Possibly,” replied Poe. He released a huge sigh, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, he looked ready. “Alright, get the General, the doctors, whatever. Get the recorder ready, start the psych eval, all of it.”

“What? You don’t want to take some breaks in between?”

“Naw, hit me all at once. I’m ready.”


	23. Chapter 23

With Poe awake and ready to subject himself to the questioning and tests, Finn finally left his bedside and went in search of BB-8. He imagined its regular checkup was done by now and wanted to find the droid before it interrupted Poe’s evaluation. He was fairly certain that despite how sure he had sounded, a distraction would have probably thrown him way off track and it would have been near impossible to push him back to the task at hand.

Despite is ready nature, it was obvious that his decision had been less of a ‘I’m cool with this, let’s just get it over with’ and was more of a ‘if I don’t get this all done now, I don’t know if I’ll be able to go through with it later because I’m afraid of what the results might say’.

Finn hoped for Poe’s sake that he would pass. Grounding would ultimately do more bad than good for him but he had to remember that the General had to think of everyone’s safety. Not just one pilot.

So, Finn looked for BB-8 and eventually found him heading out of the droid hangar.

The droid beeped at him, confused as to why he wasn’t by Poe’s side.

“He’s got some tests that he had to go through,” Finn replied. “It’s probably a good idea if we leave him to it and don’t interrupt him for a while.”

BB whirred and clicked unhappily.

“Hey, we let him get done with it all now, it means we’ll have some nice, long, uninterrupted time with him. No pesky tests in the middle that they have to push us out for.”

Giving an answer very similar to ‘ _fine_ then what should we do now’, Finn thought of that and then finally came up with an answer.

As it clicked, Finn grinned and said, “You haven’t been up in an X-wing for a long time, right?”

The droid gave a ‘well duh’ response.

“Well, I know you love flying and I’m sure I can get permission to do a sweep of the area, so how about it. Feel like racing through the wind again?”

BB let at an excited beep, the droid loving flying about as much as its owner.

Finn laughed and nodded. “Alright, come on then.”

They took Finn’s X-wing out into the sky. They flew over D’Qar, over the base and still forested areas, the lakes and streams. They flew with the sky bright blew except for the rare, white, puffy cloud.

It was what Finn had needed since getting back to the Resistance’s base. He knew that now. Utter freedom, true weightlessness mixed with control and speed and grace. It allowed Finn to truly ease every muscle, to believe that things were alright and that they had succeeded. According to the pleasant noises coming from BB-8, the droid felt the same sense of freedom that Finn was feeling and he was glad that he could share that with the droid.

But it made him see just how important it would be for Poe. If Finn simply felt like this, he knew Poe’s own emotion would be ten times more important. The way he was connected to his X-wing, to flying, one of the few real things that he had left of his mother who Finn knew he idolized and loved very much, taking all that away would break him worse than anything Kylo Ren might hope to accomplish.

So after an hour of being up in the air, Finn had decided that he would somehow convince the General to at least allow Poe air time. Even if it wasn’t for a mission, he needed the resistance of the wind, the pull of gravity, the unpredictability of the weather, and then the vast emptiness of space. He needed that freedom.

Finn decided to keep this to himself however, waiting first for the outcome of the tests and reports, particularly the psych eval.

When Finn came back to the med bay that held Poe, the paperwork had been completed and a nurse was helping Poe sit up for the first time.

“I would have thought you’d want me still until everything stopped hurting,” Poe said. It was obvious that even with the painkillers it was difficult performing the movement.

The nurse that was seeing to him went on about how they didn’t want his limbs to lock up and stiff, going into a number of reasons as to why it was a bad idea that mostly had Poe rolling his eyes at as certain terminology went over his head. However, he listened to it all and when the nurse was happy with the movement that Poe had exhibited, they instructed that it was alright for Poe to lay back down.

He did and the nurse left, giving Finn and BB-8 room to fully move into the small space.

“Hey, so what have you guys been up to?” Poe asked with a smile.

Though he said it in a nonchalant manner, it indicated to Finn that Poe didn’t want to talk about what had transpired. He doubted that any results had already come back and figured it was more due to the anxiety of having to wait for the whole thing. Which of course showed that Poe did have his doubts.

It disheartened Finn but instead of showing this, he kept a brave face and started to go over his planned argument to the General if Poe was grounded as BB-8 gave a longwinded story of their flight.


	24. Chapter 24

“You passed. You’ll be reinstated within your squadron once it has been confirmed that your wounds have healed, and then it’s back to being a pilot,” sighed Caus-Lo as he read out the official report. “Congrats, you get to continue doing insanely risky maneuvers and spur of the moment decisions in space.”

“Yes!” Poe cried out happily. He even allowed himself to do a small fist bump in the air, even it hurt some. That didn’t matter though because he would get to fly again!

Propped up against a pillow, he’d honestly expected the worse when seeing Caus-Lo come in. Any other medical professional would have Poe shrugging his shoulders as he waited to hear the outcome. The fact that Caus-Lo had been sent, a friend, someone Poe had known for years and trusted, he had thought for sure meant that the news would be the worst. Have a friend come and soften the blows, maybe make him a bit less likely to freak and all that.

But clearly Poe had been wrong. “I think a round of celebratory drinks are in order,” he said.

“You are not drinking booze when you are highly medicated,” Caus-Lo sighed. When it was clear that Finn and Rey were laughing though, Caus-Lo gave pointed looks to them both and said, “Don’t encourage him please.”

“Oh, we wouldn’t dream of it,” Rey said, managing to keep a straight face before erupting into giggles. Finn joined her in that and Caus-Lo simply rolled his eyes with a sigh.

“Uh huh, well no matter what you lot get into, do it after my shift is up. Oh, and I’d do it after Organa gets here,” Caus-Lo replied.

“Oh, she’s coming here?” asked Poe.

“Yes, she’ll probably be here in about five minutes. Wanted to meet privately with you. Just discussing your mission or a future mission or something of that nature,” Caus-Lo said with a wave of his hand.

Poe was the only one that noticed it was a lie, at least a partial one. Leia was coming but it wasn’t to discuss the mission, at least not in the way Poe had automatically thought. He kept the uncertainty out of his face though and looked to Rey, Finn, and his droid.

“Welp, I’ll see you guys later. Wish me luck.”

“Like you’ll need it,” chuckled Finn as the group left.

That left just Poe and Caus-Lo and the smile on Poe’s face immediately dropped. “What is it? Why did you lie?”

“Just wait for her to get here Poe,” Caus-Lo responded. “I’ll see you later.”

Poe bit his bottom lip, wanting to say a number of things, but kept quiet. He was alone for about three minutes before Leia finally came and Poe immediately had to resist the questions that were dying to pour out of his mouth. He did not like the look on Leia’s face.

“You didn’t pass.”

“Wha…um…what?”

“You’re not going to suddenly snap and go on a rampage. That’s clear enough without the evaluation,” Leia replied. She remained standing and Poe really wished she’d sit, be at his eye level. The doubt that was creeping in wasn’t helped by the small woman’s almost towering presence due to Poe’s position. “But you did not pass it right off the bat. You are sick Poe.”

“Caus-Lo said that I passed.” It was a weak defense. Caus-Lo could have said he’d grown wings. It wouldn’t mean it was true.

“Though not a danger to yourself, it is clear that you could be a risk to others.”

“I wouldn’t…I’m just…I’m not a risk,” Poe tried. One hand gripped the bed sheets tight, ignoring the strain on his knuckles. He couldn’t not fly. What would be his point? His heart quickened and he began to find it hard to breath.

“Deep breaths, Poe. In and out,” Leia said, her voice turning from simple and factual to kind and motherly. Poe closed his eyes but it wasn’t working. He couldn’t breath. But then he felt Leia’s hand in his hair, the touch and contact having a calming effect. “It’s alright,” she continued. “It’s just a panic attack. Nothing to serious. You’ll be fine.”

As Poe slowly began to calm down again, a feeling of humiliation filled him. He couldn’t believe he had let that happen in front of his commanding officer.

“It’s not your fault. Do not blame yourself,” Leia said like she could read his thoughts. Perhaps she could. She was a Skywalker after all.

“But why say that I passed? Why say…any of it?”

“Because, unless you wish people to know, you have passed, according to the reports, and that is what matters,” Leia said truthfully.

“I don’t understand.”

“Though you will technically be in charge of your squadron, there will be many missions that I will not send you on and plenty that I will personally give you, particularly those avoiding the First Order and any mention of Kylo Ren.”

“So I’m being demoted without the actual demotion.”

“A negative way to look at it but I suppose that you’re not wrong,” sighed Leia.

“Why do it?”

“Because I know that it will be worse on you if I were to permanently ground you,” she replied. “That and it would be a waste of your talents but I can’t have you leading any major attacks, flying straight into the First Order’s arms so to speak, at least for the foreseeable future.”

“I wouldn’t freak while up in the air,” countered Poe.

“Perhaps not, or maybe you would right off the bat. It’s nothing to be ashamed of Poe, simply a fact that you must live with.”

“What if I don’t want to live with it? What if I don’t want the very name of Kylo Ren to make me feel like I’m dying all over again or to experience these episodes and feel utterly powerless or to have my heart clench up at the thought of facing the First Order again instead of the cockiness that I use to throw left and right?”

It all came out in a rush like Poe couldn’t stop any of the words. It was the first time he’d said any of that out loud or even really admitted it to himself.

“And those were the unspoken words that I heard when going over your evaluation,” Leia sighed. “I would appreciate it if you’d talk to someone about this, honestly, but I will not force you.”

Poe closed his eyes and gave a small nod. He tried to let go of any anger, disappointment, resentment, and other negative emotions. “I’ll still be able to fly? Still be of some use?”

Leia nodded. “Yes. And perhaps, after a time, we can do another evaluation and talk of moving you back to your former position. But right now, I have two priorities that I will focus on and those are keeping you able and healthy. You should also note that this will allow you more time with Finn. I can tell he does you good. You feel safer, more at ease, more like your old self when around him. Hopefully that will help as well.”

Poe let out a shaky breath and opened his eyes again. He remained silent for a moment, not saying anything to see if Leia would continue, but she kept quiet. “Anything else?”

“That is all, unless you have any questions.”

He shook his head, but there was something he wished to say. “Thank you,” he murmured. Maybe it wasn’t the result he had happened but Leia had certainly done more than was required.

She gave a small nod of acknowledgement and left.


	25. Epilogue

Despite not being on the frontlines anymore, Poe had to admit that he didn’t feel invalid. The missions that he got weren’t pointless, little journeys. They simply were of a different nature than he had been use to. But they made him still feel valid to the Resistance and their overall mission which was the important thing.

He had told Finn what had happened and only him. Though he trusted Rey, Jess, and the other pilots, the information was private and not something that he wished to just tell anyone. But Finn? Poe could tell him and it didn’t make him feel guilty or broken. Instead, it was a freeing feeling that allowed him to breath easier.

He even took up talking to Caus-Lo, the only one that had known besides Leia before he’d told Finn. Perhaps he should have talked to someone other than a friend but he trusted Caus-Lo with his unbiased and straightforward remarks. It also meant that he wasn’t dumping everything on Finn which made Poe feel better.

Though this routine was new, Poe quickly became acclimated to it as the weeks passed and the Resistance slowly transferred resources and their base to the new location, one which the First Order did not have information on.

It was once the final move had occurred and D’Qar was devoid again that Poe had his first episode since the events.

It was sooner than expected and just as terrifying as any of the other episodes. However, Finn was there with his soft humming and rhythmic movements that he massaged into Poe’s back. Like always, Finn got him through it, kept him safe, helped get him back to sleep, and held him through the night.

The day after was like seeing a new dawn for the first time. The Resistance truly had the upper hand again, tucked away and hidden from the First Order. They were reaching out again to other planets, forming strong connections and growing larger.

And Poe was with Finn. Even if he was exhausted from that night’s episode, even if his breathing hadn’t gone back to normal yet and there was still that unrealistic sliver of fear in his heart, he knew that they would make it, that they would win.

He realized this in the early morning with Finn wrapped around him and the new day only growing brighter by the second.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll definitely be writing more for Star Wars but for now, this story and this series are finished. Thanks again for everyone who has decided to read this, kudo, comment, and everything else. Thanks again and hope you enjoyed!


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